Establishing Program To Make Grants Regarding

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Ms. Zoe Lofgren's bill, H.R. 5803. In our State of California, voting machines were decertified after a careful scientific review showed them to be prone to problems. Now we use paper. We don't need backup ballots. But many jurisdictions still use the voting machines that they purchased. And it becomes obvious that even under the management of the most diligent election officials, glitches with voting systems are rare, but they are inevitable.

The question is not whether there will be some technical problems on Election Day, but how will we respond? How bad will they be? Asking voters to come back is not a solution. We must have a plan B, a plan B ready on the spot.

That is what this bill gives us. Most of the time, as we know, emergency ballots will go unused. But we cannot afford to be without them. Opponents would argue that it's wasteful to invest in something we hope never to use. Well would we ever think of not investing in life rafts on ships, air bags on cars, or fire escapes on buildings? Emergency paper ballots are the air bag of our democracy. We can't afford not to have them in place when the vitality of election is on the line. And we know, Mr. Speaker, that in November, that will be the case. The election could be very close. And the country needs to come together in the end.

If people believe that somehow they didn't have the opportunity to vote, then they will perceive that this was not a fair election. After a spirited election, people will come together, but only if the American faith in our democracy has been borne out. This is one way to help. And I believe that we must go forward and look at this. Only the States that need it will apply. And I would expect that they would be very prudent in the way they request that kind of funding through the grant program.

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