Committee Exchange Over Federal Election Standards Centers on Cost and Control

An exchange at a House Administration Committee hearing focused on whether proposed federal election standards amount to a federal takeover and whether states would face significant costs to implement proof-of-citizenship requirements.

An unidentified committee member criticized earlier national legislation, saying, "it was a 600 page bill that was a total federal unconstitutional takeover of elections," and accused authors of such bills of now arguing for strict voter-citizenship checks. The member also noted past provisions that would have funded campaigns.

Secretary Gray, who testified in response to members' questions, disputed that implementing proof-of-citizenship requirements is costly. "It was seamless. Low cost, no cost," she said, adding that Wyoming's work so far required mainly revising training materials. Gray said uniform federal standards "clarify things" and reiterated that many baseline election rules have precedent in laws such as HAVA and the Civil Rights Act. She cited the MEGA Act and the SAVE Act as efforts that would set baseline standards.

Committee members pressed whether other provisions in the bill would drive state costs. Gray responded she did not anticipate substantial expense and again cited training revisions as the principal implementation task.

The exchange juxtaposed members' concern that federal standards could usurp state authority with the witness's account that standardized requirements can reduce ambiguity and impose little direct cost on state administrators. The member who began the exchange thanked Gray for her testimony and yielded back time; the transcript contains no recorded vote or formal committee action on these measures during the provided exchange.