Feinstein and Durbin Seek Response from EAC Regarding Allegations of Altered or Delayed Studies

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http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2381&Itemid=26

Feinstein and Durbin Seek Response from EAC Regarding Allegations of Altered or Delayed Studies

By Senators Feinstein and Durbin Press Release
April 13, 2007

Request for Information Follows Troubling News Reports of Politically Motivated Actions by EAC

In light of troubling news reports containing allegations that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) may have altered or delayed the release of reports for political purposes, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) today requested detailed information from the EAC on two recent studies related to voter fraud and voter identification requirements.

Senator Feinstein is Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and Senator Durbin is Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

“Accurate and detailed information about the realities of voter fraud and the impact of voter identification requirements is needed if we want to create meaningful reforms to federal election practices,” Senator Feinstein said. “The Election Assistance Commission provides a valuable service by looking into these issues, but we need to make sure that the true findings are being disclosed to the public and Congress.”

“The Election Assistance Commission has a responsibility to provide the public with comprehensive, unfiltered information, free from the influence of partisan politics,” said Senator Durbin. “Congress has a responsibility to provide oversight of the Commission's actions and hold them to the highest standards of integrity and credibility.”

Senator Feinstein has scheduled a Rules Committee oversight hearing on the Election Assistance Committee for Wednesday, June 13.





The following is the text of Senators Feinstein and Durbin’s letter to Election Assistance Commission Chairman

Dear Commissioner Davidson:

We are writing to seek a response to very troubling news reports that included allegations that the Commission may have altered or delayed release of two taxpayer-funded studies of election issues for political purposes.

While the Commission is within its rights to decide what guidance it issues to election officials, it is critical that its actions are not perceived as politically motivated and it is imperative that you provide full documentation about the Commission’s proceedings on these matters.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that a bipartisan team of election law experts hired by the Commission to research voter fraud in federal elections found that there was little such fraud around the nation, but the Commission revised the report to say that the pervasiveness of voter fraud was still open to debate.

On Monday, Roll Call reported that the Commission two weeks ago rejected the findings of a report, prepared as part of a $560,000 contract with Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute and Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. That report found that voter identification laws may reduce election turnout, especially by minorities.

It is imperative that the Commission’s actions and deliberations are unbiased, free from political influence and transparent. While the Commission does not have to agree with the experts who perform its research, it should make the research available unfettered and unfiltered.

Attached are a series of questions, we would like the Commission to address. We look forward to your timely response.



Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein, Chairman Committee on Rules and Administration

Richard J. Durbin, Chairman
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, Committee on Appropriations

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