Election Integrity Passes Home

Statement

Securing America's federal elections is the purpose of the SAFE Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. I am a cosponsor of the measure. Section 113 fulfills my long-standing goal to define the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as a "state" in the Help America Vote Act, and makes the Commonwealth eligible for new grants to ensure the integrity of our elections. This is especially timely given this month's report by the Office of the Public Auditor that there are problems with Marianas election procedures. The report found the Commonwealth Election Commission was unable to account fully for ballots received from the printer and for the total used and unused at polling places. Absentee ballots were not always handled as required by law. The SAFE Act provides hundreds of millions in grant funds to upgrade and maintain vote counting machines. Inclusion in HAVA means grants to insure strong chain of custody procedures for ballots--one of the weaknesses the Marianas Public Auditor uncovered in this month's audit.

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