CHC CHAIR GONZALEZ STATEMENT ON HEARING TO TERMINATE ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
April 14, 2011
(Washington, DC)- Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez, Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Ranking Member of the House Administration’s Subcommittee on Elections, which oversees election administration and voter identification issues, released the following statement regarding today’s hearing to terminate the Election Assistance Commission:
“There are few things more important in our country, and more deserving of our support, than ensuring that every American citizen’s right to vote is protected. The Election Assistance Commission, created under the Help America Vote Act is an independent bipartisan commission charged with developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration. It plays a major role in collecting accurate and comparable election data and develops and fosters the training and organization of our nation’s more than 8,000 election administrators. It has also provided voting materials in dozens of languages and thus brings great accessibility to language minorities and the disabled.
We need not look further than this month’s Supreme Court election in Wisconsin to see that problems in our voting systems still exist. But instead of seeking ways to improve every American’s access to the voting booth, Republicans are choosing to destroy an agency that’s critical to that purpose. Republicans should be looking for ways to improve the EAC, not to dismantle it. They must join us in recognizing that elections are fundamental to a functioning democracy and that every effort should be made to elevate their administration to the highest importance.”
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