▶ 0:00:00Is present. Without objection, the chair may declare a recess at any time. Also without objection. The hearing record will remain open for five legislative days, so members may submit any materials they wish to be included therein. Thank you. Ranking member morelli, members of the committee and our witnesses for participating in today's hearing. Free, fair and secure elections are critical to the democratic process.
▶ 0:00:26The committee on house administration has broad oversight of federal election policy. Today, the subcommittee on elections continues that oversight with the discussion on election administration during natural disasters. While laws dictate the time, manner and place for elections, one factor that is out of our control is the weather.
▶ 0:00:47Federal general elections coincide with hurricane season, and the 2024 general election demonstrated firsthand how mother nature can impact election administration. While natural disasters may not be the first thing that comes to mind for election administration, our local leaders have experienced them and know that they must be prepared for disasters that could strike at any moment.
▶ 0:01:11In the case of hurricane helene and so many that came before it, millions of americans faced unexpected obstacles. When it was time to cast their ballots, and election officials did their best to ensure that every legal ballot was counted. Today, we will examine how state and local election officials dealt with both logistical and physical problems while administering elections in the aftermath of storms.
▶ 0:01:35Their experiences will show how preparation and planning for emergency weather is crucial to secure elections and voter access. As the former secretary of state for the state of florida, which has been hit by more hurricanes than any other state since 1851, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to administer an election in the face of a natural disaster.
▶ 0:01:57Our witnesses today have faced similar challenges when administering elections during extreme weather, or while their state is trying to recover from storm damage. Both north carolina and florida have been left devastated by hurricanes, and today they will highlight best practices for ensuring smooth election operations before and after natural disasters. Strikes before a natural disaster strikes.
▶ 0:02:24State and local election officials should have a strategy in place and be prepared to execute well. Planned modifications to keep elections secure, maintain voter confidence and protect high voter turnout. These preparation and planning efforts can help election officials, voters, and state and local jurisdictions ensure that ballots can be cast on time and in a safe manner.
▶ 0:02:48Additionally, election officials should undergo training to address additional unexpected scenarios that a natural disaster could cause before, during, and after election day. Clear and effective communication to eligible voters in the case of an emergency is critical. North carolina and florida have each implemented best practices and shown success in ensuring voters voices are still heard when a natural disaster strikes close to an election.
▶ 0:03:14Today's hearing will detail these best practices as an example for state and local officials across the country. Election laws in north carolina and florida demonstrate that all statutes can authorize flexible and appropriate responses to natural disasters close to election day. Consistency in election processes increases trust amongst voters. However, natural disasters threaten consistency, particularly when they hit close to an election.
▶ 0:03:45No matter the circumstances. Voters must be confident that their voices will be heard. I want to thank our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to the discussion. With that, I yield to ranking member morelli for an opening statement. >> well thank you. Good afternoon everyone.
▶ 0:04:08Thank you, chairwoman lee, and thank you to my dear friend, the ranking member of the subcommittee, miss sewell. And thank you to the witnesses for being here today. Um, I think this is as, um, chair lee and I said, this is the third time we've tried to organize this, so third time is the charm, it turns out. But this is really very, very important conversation to have. And I'm grateful to the chair for pulling us all together. And again, to all the witnesses for being here.
▶ 0:04:35And I think it's important to kind of take stock of the moment that we're in. Uh, a recent report found that last year there were 27 individual weather and climate disasters, uh, with at least $1 billion in property damages. That's really pretty extraordinary. As the number continues to grow and the amount of damage that storms do.
▶ 0:04:58Uh, unfortunately, uh, the administration continues to deny the climate crisis, denying science, uh, and actively impairing our readiness to respond. Back in june, I sent a letter to fema expressing concern over the lack of publicly accessible data on how and where federal resources are allocated in response to federal disasters, a problem which has gotten even worse since, uh, since january.
▶ 0:05:26The new administration, as the hurricane season began, uh, the president's fema had reportedly said that he was unaware of hurricane season had started. I'm assuming that was a joke, but joking or not, uh, it's not funny, and it's unacceptable. Um, we have seen since the beginning of this year, uh, fired federal workers, ended grant programs that have long built resiliency and mitigate the impacts of disasters, and actively dismantling agencies that support our critical infrastructure.
▶ 0:05:52A recent gao report found that the recent cuts to fema have severely impacted the government's ability to respond to hurricane season, like last year's natural disasters and severe weather events, and the damage they inflict are not going to stop. Regardless of whether we bury our head in the proverbial sand or not. They're coming whether we like it or not, and these actions do not strengthen our elections or our democracy. In fact, they make us less secure.
▶ 0:06:21Disasters do not care about partizan affiliation, and they don't care that it's election day. Uh, they do not care if a person is rich or poor. And our response to them should not either. When hurricane sandy hit new york and new jersey just days before the 2012 presidential election, hard to believe it's that long ago, it displaced hundreds of thousands of people and caused significant damage. Yet, uh, we still needed to carry on, uh, a presidential election.
▶ 0:06:47And the same thing happened in north carolina just last year, which was referenced by the chair. Hurricane helene hit the state in late september of 2024, after absentee voting had already begun in less than three weeks before early voting was set to begin, and the storm caused tremendous damage. I don't have to tell our witness about that. Um, in west in western north carolina, more than 100 people died as a result of that tragedy.
▶ 0:07:13Uh, but election officials across the state, led by then executive director karen brinson bell, quickly got to work ensuring north carolinians could cast a ballot because of their hard work. She and all the people were part of the election. Uh, infrastructure. Voter turnout was actually higher in the 25 disaster area counties than it was statewide, which is pretty remarkable when you consider it.
▶ 0:07:37And the state board of elections in buncombe county, the hardest hit area in the state, won national awards from the election assistance commission for the emergency response and planning. Unfortunately, miss brinson bell was recently removed from her position after the republicans in the north carolina legislature pulled what I could only describe as a blatantly partizan takeover of this board of elections, shifting the power to appoint the board's members from a governor who happened to be a democrat, to the state auditor,
▶ 0:08:08Which seems like a pretty illogical move. But anyway, thank you, uh, miss brinson bell, for being here today to share your experience and expertise on this issue. And thank you to you and your staff for the hard work in the last elections. So look, last comment I'll make is we need to fully fund our elections. Election officials need additional resources, even under ideal circumstances, let alone in the midst of natural disaster. But when a disaster hits, we must make sure they have the funds and support they need to adapt.
▶ 0:08:35Operations assist voters to ensure every voter can still cast a ballot. Uh, last week in the appropriations committee, I said the $15 million in election funding that house republicans have proposed is in is certainly not enough. It's a drop in the in the ocean of funding needs, and I'll continue to push for additional funding and consistent elections funding, uh, when disaster strikes, election administrators must provide voters with options for caring. Casting a ballot.
▶ 0:09:03Um, later today. And I'll close with this. I'm introducing the climate resilient elections act with many of my colleagues, a bill that would require the gao to analyze and report on ways the federal government can better assist in administering elections following a natural disaster, would grant funding opportunities to strengthen american elections. Um, I'd also say in closing, and I'll yield back. And I appreciate the courtesy of the chair.
▶ 0:09:26Uh, today is a moment to recognize today is national voter registration day, as I think we all know. And as we talk about natural disasters, the impact they can have, we should also work to ensure that every eligible american citizen has every opportunity to register to vote, uh, update their voter registration information and cast a ballot, uh, should they choose to do so. And we certainly hope that they will choose to do that. So thank you again for holding this hearing. I'm very appreciative on an important topic. And with that, I'll yield back.
▶ 0:09:55>> and with that, I yield to ranking member sewell for an opening statement. >> thank you, madam chair. As the ranking member of the subcommittee and the representative of alabama's civil rights district, there's nothing more important to me than ensuring that every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot and have their voices heard. I am glad that today we are focusing on the impact of natural disasters on election operations, because my district is under the constant threat of natural disasters.
▶ 0:10:22Since 1980, alabama has experienced 102 federal disaster declarations every year. Tornadoes devastate communities I represent. From the april 27th, 2021, um, tornado that claimed the lives of 64 alabamians to the january 2023 storm that devastated my hometown of selma, every member of congress who has experienced a community impacted by a natural disaster knows that extensive coordination between
▶ 0:10:54Local, state, and federal partners is required to restore basic services and infrastructure to the people impacted by these events. Our election administrators are not immune to these disruptions. Natural disasters can damage or destroy polling stations, uh, voting machines, ballots, or other infrastructure such as the power or delivery of the mail.
▶ 0:11:17They can damage or destroy people's homes and belongings, including documents needed to meet voter id requirements. Moreover, storms storms don't care if we are six months, six weeks, or six days away from an election. Election officials and federal partners must be prepared for all scenarios so that they can ensure that voters are able to cast their ballots.
▶ 0:11:39In the past, severe weather events such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires had more defined seasons. But we've seen that these seasons are lengthening. And regardless of when a disaster hits a community, recovery from disaster and destruction can take weeks, months, and I can tell you even years.
▶ 0:12:00Voters in alabama and across the country deserve to know that when that that we are prepared to manage the impact of these events and that we have plans in place to protect their access to the ballot box. As members of congress, we should be working overtime to ensure that election officials have the resources they need to administer elections, and that every voter has a fair opportunity to cast their ballot. Voting must be resilient, even in the face of crisis.
▶ 0:12:27I cannot ignore the fact that we are holding a hearing to discuss the impact of natural disasters on the election, on the election administration, when the trump administration is proposing to make major cuts to fema, undermining climate science and halting climate research at every turn, the president's reckless cuts to vital services like fema will increase the burden for states as they try to recover from recent disasters and try to plan for the future.
▶ 0:12:55Sadly, congressional republicans are standing by silently as president trump fires staff, cuts funding and rescinds grants from these critical programs. I'm looking forward to our discussion today because we need to take a hard look at how republicans cuts will hurt our disaster preparedness and place new burdens on our election officials. And if we're going to have a candid discussion, the federal government must be an equal and good faith partner in that endeavor.
▶ 0:13:23Denying climate science, cutting recovery personnel and resources, spreading misinformation and disinformation, and threatening to withhold resources from the president's political opponents does not help election officials, voters or the security of our elections. We must address the chronic underfunding of our elections. It's simple as that.
▶ 0:13:44We must be proactive as we think about ways to implement policies that not only expand access to the ballot box for every eligible voter, but ensures that our election infrastructure is resilient and does not crumble in the face of a natural disaster. When the next disaster strikes. And it will, it is the american people who will suffer from the lack of preparation and resources.
▶ 0:14:07We will not forget this administration's efforts to make it harder for americans to vote in reducing the few resources that we currently have for election administrators, the american people's right to vote is sacred, and I will, and I know that I will continue to work tirelessly with my colleagues across the aisle to make sure that we have adequate funding and that every eligible voter has a right to vote. With that, I would like to ask, madam chair, if I can have unanimous consent to enter into the record.
▶ 0:14:37A january 2025 report published by the election infrastructure initiative detailing the significant emergency costs experienced by election officials during the 2024 election. >> without objection, so ordered. >> I also ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a statement from the league of women voters outlining some of the ways that we can best ensure we are prepared for natural disasters and that every voter can cast a ballot. >> without objection. So ordered. Thank you.
▶ 0:15:04Without objection, all other members opening statements will be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted to the committee clerk by 5 p.m. Today. Today we have one witness panel. I will now introduce our witnesses. First we have for eggers partner at eggers. Eggers, eggers. And eggers plc. And current secretary of the north carolina state board of elections. Next we have cord byrd, the secretary of state of the great state of florida.
▶ 0:15:32And finally, we have karen brinson bell, the former executive director of the north carolina state board of elections. Each witness will have five minutes to provide an opening statement. I now recognize Mr. eggers for the purpose of giving his opening statement. >> thank you. >> chair lee and ranking members of morelli and sewell, for the opportunity to address your committee.
▶ 0:15:56Between september 20th and 28th of last year, tropical storm helene inundated western north carolina, receiving an unprecedented amount of rainfall consistent with a 1000 year storm. This level of rainfall, coupled with the power of gravity, caused mountain streams, creeks and rivers to become overwhelmed with the speed and force of water tearing out culverts, bridges, power lines, telecommunication lines, water lines and sewer lines.
▶ 0:16:26Mudslides and downed trees added to the difficulties in travel and basic emergency response services. Power and telecommunications systems were simply not functional, and local radio stations were off the air because they were dependent upon fiber optic lines that no longer existed. There was no internet service nor cell phone service through much of the region.
▶ 0:16:46State roads in the area had more than 9000 damaged sites and more than 1400 road closures as a result of the storm. This storm left us 38 days until election day, and 21 days before early voting was to begin for the north carolina presidential election. In the 25 county disaster area, ten of our county offices were closed for extended periods of time due to lack of electrical, telecommunication, internet power, and water service.
▶ 0:17:18Thankfully, we were able to account for all of our county election staff and quickly took inventory of the damages and needs for those offices. I will start by first thanking our dedicated county elections directors, the election staff and poll workers for their outstanding service and dedication in making sure our elections are accessible and fair. These are the keys to our success related to this.
▶ 0:17:45Uh, and secondly, one of those keys is the bipartisan nature of how my colleagues on the state board of elections and the respective county boards came together to take emergency action that addressed the needs of the voters with minimal political gamesmanship.
▶ 0:18:01On september 30th of 2024, we were able to issue a bipartisan and unanimous emergency directive to allow for flexibility in conducting absentee ballot meetings in the affected areas on november 7th, or, I'm sorry, on october 7th of 2024, we also issued a bipartisan and unanimous emergency directive to address the 13 most affected counties, allowing for changes by those county boards of
▶ 0:18:31Election so long as they were adopted by a bipartisan vote. These emergency actions provided flexibility for the counties to adopt again on that bipartisan basis. Changes to meet the realities for voting in the wake of this unprecedented storm. At the end of the day, this turns out to be an incredible success story for our state. As turnout in western north carolina was actually higher than the rest of the state.
▶ 0:18:57I would caution that this higher voter turnout is not because of our emergency changes alone. Credit for the higher turnout belongs to the voters themselves, and the civic pride and sense of community that americans bring to recovery from tragedy and natural disasters. I would also caution that these changes are not best practices for the administration of elections. During normal conditions, we need adequate checks and balances to make it easy to vote. Get hard to cheat.
▶ 0:19:26These changes were narrowly tailored to reflect the difficult realities of recovery from the worst natural disaster to strike western north carolina in living memory of the lessons learned related to this natural disaster, I would say first, preparation is the key to a successful election. Second, any last minute changes to the settled rules and deadlines for an election should have bipartisan support.
▶ 0:19:53And third, delaying or suspending elections is simply not an option for members and administrators of elections. Regardless of the disaster, people expect and demand elections to occur on time. Postponing elections would be absolutely the last choice, as it would cause rumors, chaos and suspicion in an area with already weakened public safety and communication resources.
▶ 0:20:19It is an honor to be able to speak with you today, and I am grateful for your service and involvement with this important topic. >> I now recognize secretary burr for an opening statement. >> thank you, chairwoman lee and ranking member sewell and morelli and members of the committee for the opportunity to speak before this committee about election administration during natural disasters. June 1st marked the beginning of the atlantic hurricane season, which in florida means that election season coincides with hurricane season.
▶ 0:20:48As such, it is imperative that we maintain robust election emergency plans. Florida does not delay or cancel elections, and voters must have the opportunity to vote in fair weather or foul. Let me begin by providing a brief background on elections in florida. Florida elections are overseen by the secretary of state division of elections, and are administered by the 67 county supervisors of elections. By law, the secretary of state also serves as florida's chief elections officer.
▶ 0:21:14In this role, I work closely with the county supervisors to ensure their duties can be carried out in accordance with the florida constitution and election laws. Elections administration is challenging enough when the sun is shining. Darkening skies compound these challenges, which makes emergency planning and preparation vital to our success. During the last two election cycles in 2022 and 2024, five severe hurricanes hit different parts of the state. Storms, fires, floods and power outages can all happen during a major weather event, so we must be prepared for everything.
▶ 0:21:44This includes excess humidity, which can impact ballot paper thickness, which in turn can affect ballot processing. In 2022, two major hurricanes hit florida during the election cycle. 130 days before the election, during the early voting period, and one during the election certification period. Once we ensured that people were safe, I visited the affected counties to survey the damage. I saw firsthand the destruction and worked with supervisors of elections and impacted counties to determine their specific needs based on the obstacles voters faced in that county.
▶ 0:22:14Governor desantis then issued executive orders addressing the needs identified by the supervisors. These orders established additional early voting sites, amended and extended voter reporting requirements, and extended deadlines for eligibility verification for voters. As a result of these executive actions, the 2022 election, voter turnout and the most severely impacted counties either closely matched or exceeded statewide voter turnout for that election year.
▶ 0:22:412024 was another active hurricane season, with three hurricanes hitting during the 60 day election cycle. As always, we adjusted to ensure voters had every opportunity to cast a ballot. The first hurricane hit just weeks before the primary election. The second storm struck a month later. Within a week of the supervisors canvasing the first votes for the general election. Weeks after the second storm, a third major hurricane came ashore less than a month before the general election.
▶ 0:23:05Again, I worked with the supervisors to determine their specific needs, and governor desantis acted by signing. Executive order was tailored to meet those needs. The executive orders created a streamlined process for displaced voters to have their vote by mail ballots sent to where they were living after the storms. It also gave supervisors the ability to relocate or consolidate polling sites or early voting sites. We work to ensure that first responders in linemen working long hours and away from home had the opportunity to cast their ballots.
▶ 0:23:34This is an important point. While displaced voters may must be afforded the opportunity to cast a ballot, so too must the people who are responsible for the maintenance of order and the restoration of power. While these storms disrupted the daily lives of voters, we ensure that it would not take away their ability to vote. And in 2024, florida saw its highest voter turnout in 30 years. For example, taylor county in florida's panhandle received direct hits from two of the aforementioned hurricanes, yet it saw a 90.9% voter turnout.
▶ 0:24:03Citizens want to vote. It was truly inspiring to see the to see people perform their civic duty despite being displaced by these devastating storms. First, the natural disasters of 2022 and 2024 reinforce the importance of excellent coordination and planning. Second, florida has proven that elections can still proceed even when emergencies are looming or when a community is recovering from disaster. Third, governor desantis has shown that executive orders are the key to election continuity. Importantly, there is no one size fits all approach.
▶ 0:24:33Each emergency is different, and at the state level, our role is to assess the county's particular needs and find solutions. Governor desantis and I used our executive powers to permit flexibility when warranted, while also maintaining the high standard of election integrity established in florida law. Once executive action is carried out, it's important to inform the public during elections.
▶ 0:24:54My staff provides information to supervisors and the public by issuing press releases, pushing messages on our official social media channels, updating our website and answering calls to the voter hotline. Emergency planning begins with coordination between state and county emergency responders and election administration officials. The florida approach to elections is clear. We do not move or delay elections. Instead, we are committed to ensuring that voters affected by emergencies can still exercise their right to vote.
▶ 0:25:22Thank you for allowing me to testify today about how florida administers elections during emergencies. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you. >> I now recognize miss brinson bell for the purpose of an opening statement. >> thank you. Chairwoman lee and ranking member sewell and members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to share the extraordinary work of election professionals to ensure safe and secure voting.
▶ 0:25:42Following the devastation caused by hurricane helene in western north carolina in 2024, my name is karen brinson bell and I served as north carolina's chief election official and executive director of the state board of elections from june 2019 to may. I apologize to may 2025 overseeing elections for more than 7.5 million registered voters across 100 counties.
▶ 0:26:10My tenure included navigating hurricanes, a global pandemic, and historic turnout. My elections career began nearly 20 years ago in the mountains of western north carolina. So helene's impact was very personal. Helene and previous disasters show the critical need for strong communication and early and often with federal, state and local partners, as well as steady, reliable funding and advanced preparation.
▶ 0:26:38Our voters must have confidence that they will be able to cast a ballot and have that ballot count through any emergency. We do that by talking early and often, planning carefully, and ensuring all election offices have the resources they need well in advance. Disaster response begins long before an event.
▶ 0:26:59Careful planning allowed us to act quickly when hurricane helene hit western north carolina on september 27th, 2024, dropping 30in of rain in yancey county in three days and pushing water down the french broad river at more than 240,000 gallons per second. Preparedness meant adopting an all hazards approach. We trained for the unexpected and embraced the philosophy. We don't stop an election. We figure out how to proceed.
▶ 0:27:31Having managed elections during past hurricanes and the pandemic, we knew disruptions were inevitable. The challenge was how we respond. When helene struck absentee by mail, voting had begun and ballots were in the mail stream. On monday, september 30th, 14 county offices could not open. We had limited ability to communicate with local election officials and their staff. In some cases that week, we did not know if the election staff were okay or not.
▶ 0:28:01Cell phone towers were down. There was no power and no internet. Since analog phone lines are mostly obsolete and email requires working computers or smartphones. Communication from county to county or across the state was difficult and even non-existent in some circumstances. State emergency management immediately prioritized elections with other critical infrastructure. Resources were provided through emergency management, fema, and state emergency funds covering needs.
▶ 0:28:33Our regular budget could not. These funds covered portable toilets, tents, atvs, satellite devices, generators and more. Much of which were delivered within days. We requested 2.5 million in legislative relief, but only needed 500,000 as most needs were met by state and federal emergency management. Legislative funds arrived after october 10th, just a week before early voting.
▶ 0:29:02Without north carolina emergency management and fema's swift action, critical needs would have gone unmet. In one week, all county offices reopened. No equipment damage, no ballots lost, and most importantly, no election workers lives lost.
▶ 0:29:19By october 17th, 76 of 80 planned early voting sites in the 25 county disaster region opened on schedule with power by election day. The vast majority of sites were open with little consolidation and no isolated communities unserved. Only seven tent sites were needed. Remarkably, western north carolina surpassed statewide turnout by two percentage points.
▶ 0:29:48Emergency authority allowed the state board to act quickly, granting counties flexibility to adjust voting locations, appoint voting site officials from outside the precinct as needed, and allow absentee voters to return ballots to any county by state law. Affected voters could indicate natural disaster as an exception for showing voter id. September is national preparedness month. We are also approaching the one year anniversary of hurricane helene.
▶ 0:30:19We delivered voting in north carolina because of advanced preparation, strong communication, and intentional partnership with federal, state and local emergency management and other support structures who provided funding and resources in an emergency. However, we cannot let our guard down or become complacent as natural disasters will continue to occur and likely at the time of elections. Given our nation's election schedule, we cannot retract resources or funding.
▶ 0:30:48Rather, more needs to be dedicated to the effort to ensure voting continues and ballots are counted, no matter the circumstances. Thank you for inviting me to testify, and I welcome your questions. >> thank you. I will begin our questions today, followed by the ranking member. I now recognize myself for the purpose of questioning our witnesses.
▶ 0:31:09Secretary byrd, I'd like to begin with you and discuss the coordination between the florida department of state and state and local emergency management officials. Would you share with us a bit about that coordination and how coordinating with local emergency management prepares election administrators across the state for incidents of severe weather? >> thank you, chairman lee, for the question.
▶ 0:31:36And certainly, as my predecessor in florida, you are no no stranger to the issues of hurricanes and florida. So at the county level, because that's where the the elections are administered. Um, we encourage the supervisors of elections to coordinate with their, their local county emergency management. Then of course, we have emergency management at the state level. So as a storm approaches, and once we've ensured that all lives are safe and secure, then we can we can stream resources from the state level. We have resources pre-positioned throughout the state.
▶ 0:32:05We have individuals who are pre-positioned from our office. Um, in, in the places or around the state, and then certainly in the areas where, um, uh, there's going to be a hurricane with elections being critical infrastructure. Um, we can we can surge resources to them.
▶ 0:32:22So if I'm in communication with the supervisor and whatever they need from clearing a road to getting power back up and running to internet connection and service, whatever those needs are, because they are critical infrastructure, we can then work with state emergency management to work with local emergency management to get the resources up and running. >> and in particular, those are some great examples. How does your office ensure effective communication?
▶ 0:32:50Because one of the things that typically happens in these kinds of storms is a loss of of potentially sell signal, a loss of power. What can you all do to help ensure communication from state to local election officials, especially if those regular lines of communication are unavailable after a storm? >> certainly we have satellite phones that are available to to us in case communications, um, go down.
▶ 0:33:13Fortunately, in florida, because of our long history with hurricanes, much of the infrastructure is now being is placed underground, which, um, limits some of the the ability to for that, those types of communications to be knocked out. We're utilizing services like starlink to be able to get resources to a supervisor's office. Um, so those are some of the examples of how we maintain communication.
▶ 0:33:36And as I said in the answer to my, um, or my previous answer, we have individuals that are pre-positioned around the state from our office to be directly communicating, to be boots on the ground in the affected areas. >> and what other key lessons can other states learn from florida, where election season so routinely coincides with hurricanes? >> once again, pre-positioning resources um um table topping or game planning?
▶ 0:34:05The the scenarios, what's going to happen and then really being, you know, having that communication um, with with the individual supervisors so that we want to use a scalpel to pinpoint exactly what resources they need and, uh, and provide, um, we want to make as few changes to our election system as possible. So we really want to take a targeted approach and meet the needs of that individual county.
▶ 0:34:32So in one storm, we may have a flooding event in one county, but it could be, uh, a power outages in another county. So there's going to be different needs. So it's not a one size all approach. >> and Mr. eggers, what secretary bird just said reminds me of one of your comments in your opening statement about finding the right remedies and targeting those remedies to fit the needs that develop in a situation.
▶ 0:34:55Would you describe for us, please, the type of logistical problems that hurricane helene caused for your election procedures, particularly in western north carolina, and how you all adapted to meet those challenges? >> thank you, chair lee. The logistics were first and foremost communication because we had no communication between the various counties and the state, uh, to address those items. So that was handled in a number of different ways.
▶ 0:35:23Uh, between the starlinks being delivered, but also just by word of mouth, by folks going from one county to another. Uh, we our first emergency resolution, I had to inform a county board of elections that we had canceled several of their meetings on their behalf, and they said, good. We couldn't get anyone here to do that.
▶ 0:35:44So it's a process of building communication first and then building the infrastructure back so that you can get what's needed both through local emergency management, through state emergency management and on up the chain. So logistics are the key for building back those precincts and those locations, uh, that are critical to our success. >> thank you. Uh, secretary eggers, uh, I now recognize the ranking member for five minutes of questions.
▶ 0:36:16>> thank you, madam chair. Uh, Mr. brinson bell, the administration has, as I mentioned, my opening comments. Um, cutting federal government staff resources that focus on elections as well as critical disaster preparedness programs.
▶ 0:36:32Uh, in your written testimony, you mentioned critical partnerships and resources agencies like cisa, eek, emergency management management and other federal partners as election officials assess and plan for the next election, how will the loss of these partnerships and resources impact contingency planning and training, and how will election officials utilize the resources they have to fill these gaps? And frankly, is there enough space?
▶ 0:36:58Do they have enough resources to fill some of these gaps? >> thank you for that question. Um, election administrators across the country are certainly concerned about the reduced support that we're facing. We're receiving from, um, the federal agencies, particularly cisa. Um, that was a critical partnership in helping us to build out what was really a six year plan in how we were ready for helene.
▶ 0:37:25Uh, in north carolina, we met monthly with our state, federal and local partners, um, in preparation for any hazard that might be, um, necessary to conduct an election through, uh, we had them on site with us during elections. Um, as we positioned ourselves at the emergency operations center, we very much utilize the tabletop, the vote exercise, which I'm sure it will continue, um, with the reduced support.
▶ 0:37:51And that actually had us well prepared because we took tabletop the vote to a statewide exercise that we then delivered to local the 100 counties for them to exercise with their local emergency management, state it and county it. Um, you know, various partners, law enforcement and so forth to ensure that no matter the hazard that we were prepared. And I think that's why we were able to pivot so quickly. I also mentioned that the federal funding was critical.
▶ 0:38:20Uh, in those first few days, it wasn't a matter of how much we had. It was a matter of the questions to us were, what do you need? And those were those things were delivered. Um, we had, you know, for example, a portable toilet was not available in yancey county to the elections office. Um, they did not have those resources, but emergency management and fema got those in place. The same with the the seven tent sites that we used. Fema delivered those tents.
▶ 0:38:49Fema provided the security for that. And I'm not sure, um, given some of the cuts, if we're really in a position to ensure that that takes place, um, the legislature certainly provided funding, but it took until october 10th for that to come through the federal government and the state emergency fund in particular, were the ones who met the need immediately.
▶ 0:39:13>> so I'm curious, we, uh, in fiscal year 2023, the appropriation for election assistance, uh, from the federal government, 75 million, uh, were passed out of the appropriations committee. Um, an amount of 15 million. So a cut of 80% from 2023. I'm just curious, in north carolina, what does it cost to run a statewide presidential general election? >> the survey in 2016, post presidential election, was that the cost was $17 million.
▶ 0:39:40We know this because north carolina is the only state that requires the voting equipment vendors to post a bond, to be certified as voting equipment um, supplier in north carolina. So we just completed that survey, and the board just adopted, uh, the new bond amount, which is over $35 million, to conduct a new election in the state of north carolina.
▶ 0:40:04Um, so at $75 million, uh, you know, all of that is halfway spent in north carolina alone. 15 million doesn't even get it done. And, um, you know, it's it's it's costly to conduct a new election. >> and so you may have said this and I may have missed it. What was it? What was the additional cost? Uh, in 2024, as a result of the natural disaster. What? So if you have a baseline amount, you said 75 million, roughly. What? What was the additional cost of of the hurricane?
▶ 0:40:35>> um, you know, the additional costs were really not something that we had to bring out of our budget. Um, there was 2.5 million allotted by the legislature. We spent about 500,000, a lot of that on efforts to communicate to the voters through a media campaign and so forth. Uh, the actual other expenditures were absorbed through state and federal funding, uh, through fema and the state emergency fund. >> yeah. Okay. I, I do appreciate that.
▶ 0:41:04And, uh, rather than going over because I'm sure my next question would elicit a longer answer, I'm going to yield back. Again. Thank you to everybody for being here, madam chair. >> thank you. I now recognize the gentleman from north carolina, doctor murphy, for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chairman. And thank you guys for coming today. Um, I live over in the east, and we have those little whirly storms a little bit more over in our neck of the woods than they do in the west. And actually, I went in a helicopter and, uh, surveyed the damage with senators tillis and budd just three days afterwards.
▶ 0:41:34And it was cataclysmic. So how you guys got anything done is a testament to hard work. Um, you know, I hear a constantly now. It's the cry of the federal government's not paying enough. Um, we're hurtling towards a financial sovereign debt crisis, and it's time, actually, for states to stop screaming from the federal government to pay. And now states take a little bit more burden. It's great that in north carolina, people had the foresight, um, through the general assembly to establish a rainy day fund.
▶ 0:42:02And hell, that's what it's there for when it's a rainy day or one of those things. So it's glad that they had the speed with which to work and to be able to fund you in ways that we have. If there are discrepancies as we move forward, it's time for the state to step up. Um, we can't default. We can't bankrupt the country because we have things that need to be funded when states can do these.
▶ 0:42:23Also, um, just to kind of follow up with this, uh, with what you're going, what you guys are going through, I believe you really did a very herculean job in pulling this off. Um, whether it changed elections, I don't know. Um, but I still think the fact that we were able to get people to vote when literally so many roads were washed out is is a miracle. Uh, Mr. eggers, let me just ask a couple questions of you.
▶ 0:42:47Um, how did the state's board, which is a bipartisan board, how did that come into play to try actually effectuate effectuating, um, availability of voting sites and how how things get done and hopefully, did politics play a role? >> yes, sir.
▶ 0:43:02I'm very proud of the work my colleagues and I were able to do related to tailoring what was needed for emergency relief to a bipartisan nature so that we could target those items that could address necessary changes, such as relocating polling places if the site or building had been destroyed or washed away, uh, while not taking steps that would try and give partizan advantage to either side.
▶ 0:43:29It was a good a show of the american spirit of coming together in the wake of a disaster, not in the name of politics, but in the name of how can we restore consistency to the process? Because consistency in elections builds confidence in elections, and that's what the voters are looking for. >> that's very heartening to hear in this days of horrible partizanship and violence. It's it's good. It's a good testament for north carolina to be able to do that.
▶ 0:43:53If you had to give a percentage of people that you do not, that you did not feel had access to be able to vote merely because of the storm, could you could you, uh, postulate on what that might be. >> that would be difficult to come up with an answer, uh, to come up with that solution.
▶ 0:44:11I would say that based upon the changes in the work that were done and also the records, uh, and procedures taken by both the county boards and by their staff, we were able to open all but almost seven precincts, uh, in, say, buncombe county, which has 200 voters, and get voters information to where they could still get to a voting site.
▶ 0:44:36So I would like to think we were able to mitigate the impact of the storm as far as the accessibility and availability of voting to voters, and I'm not aware of any voters who stated that they were unable to vote in the most recent presidential. >> again, testament to a good bipartisan nature in north carolina. So hats off to you guys. Um, just one other question, and then I'll shut up. Um, the state board allows the local boards to have some flexibility in what they do.
▶ 0:45:04Um, was that good, bad or indifferent? How well did that play into the situation? >> it worked well in all but one county. In one county, I believe there was a little bit of gamesmanship that was attempted. Ultimately, the legislature stepped in on a bipartisan basis and was able to restore a number of sites that had been cut from. >> can you can you expound upon that? >> uh, yes, sir. Uh, in henderson county, they consolidated all of their sites to one central site.
▶ 0:45:32It resulted in long lines and crowded parking lots. And they, uh, the legislature, uh, adjusted their plan on a bipartisan basis such that there was more accessibility to the rural areas of the county and the harder to to reach areas of the county. Otherwise, uh, I think all the decisions were, of course, bipartisan and were a great success. >> great.
▶ 0:45:58I mean, that's a testament because, you know, given the hostile nature of what politics is these days, I think it's a good lesson for everybody to have examples that people can actually work together, let them vote, let the voters decide and be as it is. So thank you, madam chairman, I yield back. >> I now recognize the gentlelady from illinois, miss miller, for five minutes. Which. Okay. >> thank you, chairwoman, and thank you to our witnesses today.
▶ 0:46:26Um, secretary byrd, thank you for your testimony and for offering your perspective as the chief election officer for a state that has long faced natural disasters during the fall election season, it definitely is a credit to the work of florida's election officials that despite facing three hurricanes during the 24 election, florida saw the highest voter turnout in 30 years.
▶ 0:46:49So my question is, how does your office guarantee the integrity of a displaced voter's ballot? >> so this goes once again to, um, being in communication with the the elected supervisor of elections in that county and asking what their specific needs are.
▶ 0:47:06Um, so, for example, if there are a high number of displaced, um, voters, uh, we change some of the rules to allow a ballot to vote by mail ballot to be sent to the location where they were displaced, where typically that has to be. Um, that request has to be in writing. We allowed them to, to to call in and make that request of the supervisor. So that's one example.
▶ 0:47:28Once again, not just the people that are affected, but the people who the emergency responders, our first responders, our linemen, the people who are making sure that the power and safety power comes back on and the safety making sure that they are able to vote because many of them come from counties where they could be able to vote, but now they're in the county that's been impacted. >> thank you.
▶ 0:47:47And when entire counties or localities must be evacuated, how do local election supervisors safeguard election infrastructure and supplies that are necessary to run polling locations? >> well, there there are the real heroes. I mean, they're the ones who they stay in their counties. I mean, I was on the phone with a supervisor of elections who had three feet of water in her home, but she was still doing her job. She was on the phone with us.
▶ 0:48:13And so once she made sure that all of her people were safe, I mean, her mission, she was elected to do that job, and they're staying. They're not evacuating, so they're staying in their county. They're going out as soon as it's there. It's safe to go to the polling sites to see which are still operable, which are down, and what we need to do to then get resources to to get those sites back up and running. >> Mr. eggers, in your written testimony, you rightly point out that delaying or suspending elections should never be an option.
▶ 0:48:41As your office manage the aftermath of the storm that hit north carolina. How did provisional ballots come into play during the 24 election? General election? And when the western part of the state was heavily hit? >> so part of the changes that we made related to the processing of ballots was to allow absentee ballots to be turned in in other localities and locations.
▶ 0:49:05We were fortunately able to restore connectivity to the state, so that allowed counties to have their voter rolls accessible to them, so that minimized the need for provisional ballots in in the various counties.
▶ 0:49:18Uh, I've have noted in my statement that even if we lost all communications and the county needed to run an election, or a precinct needed to run an election with no communication, with no computers, with no documentation that they could do so with pens, paper, and a place to store them, and ideally, envelopes for provisional ballots. But really just pen and paper and a waterproof container can run an election in america.
▶ 0:49:49>> are there lessons learned from hurricane helene that you think will change the way certain practices will be implemented, either before or after a natural disaster strikes? >> yes. In western north carolina, we're not used to hurricanes. We can handle a snowstorm. We're used to that. But when it came to a storm that destroyed all of our infrastructure, it really highlighted the fact that all of our communications are fiber optic and they are all land based, and that we needed a backup system.
▶ 0:50:19And that's something that each of the counties simply did not have to have a satellite phone, such as secretary byrd has mentioned, and some of those practices. So I know we are looking at some of the things that florida does as best practices so that we can implement those in north carolina and prepare for natural disasters that we think wouldn't affect us. >> thank you for your testimony. And I yield back.
▶ 0:50:46>> without objection, and at the request of representative bice from oklahoma. I'd like to insert an article into the record of the fox news article is entitled oklahoma power outages linger after ice storm. Here's why election day won't be impacted. I'd like to thank our witnesses for appearing before us today. Members of the committee may have some additional questions for you, and we ask that you please respond to those questions, if any, in writing.
▶ 0:51:14Without objection, each member will have five legislative days to insert additional material into the record or to revise and extend their remarks. If there is no further business, I thank the members for their participation and without objection, the committee stands adjourned.