The Shadow
Congress continues to push for solutions that secure American federal elections.
The main House Committee charged with these solutions is the House Committee on Administration, on which I serve.
The Committee has worked hard to draft commonsense policies, investigate federal election campaign issues and lead hearings on various elections matters.
Such commonsense policies include requiring presentation of voter ID in order to cast a ballot in a federal election.
A broad swath of Americans from all political backgrounds and persuasions support voter ID.
Recently, CNN reported on a Pew Research Center survey which found that 71% of Democratic voters support voter ID. In March, Senator Mark Warner took to the Senate floor to express support for voter ID.
And yet, Warner joined Democrats in the Senate to block passage of the SAVE America Act, which would have required voter ID!
One cannot forget either that when Democrats last had the majority in the House, they passed a bill to ban voter ID! Fortunately, the Senate did not pass the measure.
I will continue to advocate for commonsense voter ID policies supported by the American people. This is important because these policies help secure American elections, institute protections from fraudulent activity and restore trust in our political participation process.
American federal elections are for American citizens only, which is why Congress continues to crack down on the fraudulent influence of foreign money in American federal elections.
It is against federal law for U.S. candidates for office to accept contributions from foreign nationals, whether directly or indirectly.
However, a major fundraising platform is under investigation for potentially allowing this activity to fester.
Our committee is actively investigating ActBlue, a campaign fundraising platform that solicits and collects contributions for a multitude of Democratic Party candidates and campaigns.
ActBlue is considered the preeminent political online fundraising platform, as it has processed roughly $20 billion in campaign donations for Democratic candidates since it was created.
For the last few years, under the leadership of Chairman Bryan Steil, the House Administration Committee has raised concerns about ActBlue’s failure to safeguard its system from foreign entity activity.
ActBlue has not exactly been entirely forthcoming. ActBlue previously assured the Committee that its institution of anti-fraud measures rooted out fraudulent foreign donations.
However, a recent New York Times article exposed ActBlue for knowingly failing to prevent donations from foreign nationals and potentially misleading Congress!
This new reporting shows that the Committee’s investigation is on to something, and more is to come.
Our Committee previously discovered that ActBlue did not require CVV, or “Card Verification Value”, when processing donations. Requiring CVV is a standard process that is generally required for any kind of online purchase.
Not requiring CVV is problematic, particularly because prepaid gift cards can be used to make donations.
If there is not verification of CVV, how do we know if the card being used belongs to an eligible American citizen?
As a result of our investigation, ActBlue says it now requires CVV. While more transparency is needed, we will continue to promote sufficient fraud prevention measures that protect U.S. elections from foreign money meddling.
Another key tenet of anti-fraud measures in U.S. elections is clean voter rolls to ensure eligible American citizens vote.
Recently, the Administration Committee held a hearing on the importance of voter list maintenance and eligibility verification.
We welcomed two secretaries of state, one representing a Republican-led State (Kansas) and one representing a Democratic-led State (Minnesota).
In the run-up to the hearing, news broke of a non-citizen in Minnesota charged with illegally voting in the 2024 election.
Minnesota is one of many U.S. States with seemingly lax voter registration rules.
For instance, Minnesota law allows any registered voter to vouch for the residency of as many as eight people to help them register to vote!
Besides scrutinizing this policy, I called for renewed attention on issues with mail-in voting.
Mail-in ballots in Virginia require signature verification, but there are situations where signature verification does not prevent abuse of the process.
Consider that the caregiver of a mentally impaired voter may decide to cast a ballot on their behalf. The caregiver might be able to produce a signature that is indistinguishable from the voter’s signature!
Mail-in voting relies on the U.S. Postal Service. I remember a campaign in the past where my opponent’s literature did not arrive until several days after the election was over.
Mail-in voting needs to be reexamined.
As your representative in Congress, I will continue protecting the federal election process.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at https://morgangriffith.house.gov/.
