mr. cuccinelli. you are now recognized for about five minutes. and you are remote, i believe. >> yes, ma'am. chairman lofgren, ranking member davis and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on the quality of the voting system and integrity of the people who run them. thankfully it's already against the law to harass them, and in homeland security, instead of encouraging the people with the kind of unrest you heard described in detroit. i previously served deputy gdz we worked every day to help improve transparency, security, accessibility safety and accountability of elections in every state so every american regardless of their party affiliation or the color of their skin can have confidence in the outcome of every election. today it's easier to register and vote than it ever has been in our history. regardless where you live, what color you are and what party you vote forment we should be celebrating this as a great accomplishment looking to improve. instead many in congres

mr. cuccinelli and mr. nobile a few questions. a lot of discussions about the shelby county case in 2013. but i was here in 2006 when we reauthorized the voting rights act. i think one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed by the united states congress. and the beauty of the voting rights act is it actually worked. as demonstrated in chief justice roberts' opinion. the gap between minority voting participation and white voting majority participation shrunk to almost zero. in fact, in 2020, in texas, we had 66% of registered voters cast their ballot. historic numbers of hispanic and african-american voters participated in the election which leads me to the conclusion that anybody who wanted to cast a ballot that was legally qualified to do so had ample opportunity to do so. and they did so in a very robust fashion. but, mr. cuccinelli in the shelby county case chief justice roberts called this preclearance requirement of state voting law changes an extraordinary remedy under the constitution because, as he pointed

mr. cuccinelli? >> yes. and with confidence and transparency. >> mr. noble. >> yes. >> thank you. i mean, it seems like a simple concept, but i ask it for the record because i've heard far too often, not just from several of my republican colleagues this year, but for many years from republican leaders, including elections officials across the country, this supposed philosophy of all we want the to do is make it easier to vote but harder to cheat. the data suggests we've got the harder to cheat down pretty good. every study, every investigation, has not only documented but quantified voter fraud in america is exceedingly, exceedingly rare. what my colleagues seem to have forgotten about is the first part of their mantra, the easier to vote piece. i know this is not a hearing on the for the people act, but as the former secretary of the state of california having not just championed but successfully implemented a lot of the measures called for in the for the people act, policies like automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, no-excuse vote by mail, the ability to c

mr. cuccinelli for your testimony today. we had a long debate about congresses role in federal elections. republicans believe that states have the primary role in administering elections. and a congresses role is secondary. at our last committee hearing, we heard testimony from witnesses suggesting that the elections clause is congress carte blanche power over state elections. mr. charmaine was built goes into -- mr. saar brains's-- mr. could shelley do you agree with their interpretation of the elections clause? >> no, i think the elements in the longer form of your statement, are exactly what was anticipated when the constitution was written, when this clause was put in place. it is shown by the history of america. for 200 30 years, states have run elections -- for 230 years, states of run elections. in with the voting rights act of 1965, one of the most extraordinary federal interventions in state run elections in our history. even that was recognized by the supreme court as resulting from extreme circumstances that exist

mr. cuccinelli. could you turn on your microphone?>> thank you for inviting me here today but i'm ken cuccinelli mr. busy attorney generalrn of virginia and currently serve as a national chairman of the election transparency initiative where we work everyday to help improve transparency security accessibility and accountability of elections in every state so every american regardless of partyi' or race is has confidene in the outcome of every election. to begin with the state seek to address the shortcomings in our election systems that would help to get beyond thece hyperbolic d rivalrous rhetoric that each and every ruler procedures not only an onerous restrictions but allegedly knee-jerk in the race is pretty lee given in america today it's easier to vote than ever before. imagine an election with just a table with a stack of empty ballots. thedy is dispensing ballots. anyone who comes along to fill out alex no one is watching drop those ballots into a drop docs. for good measure will mail a blank ballot so every single name on her