Democrats hold ‘shadow hearing’ in San Francisco to ‘protect election integrity’ – NBC Bay Area

Congressional Democrats are on a cross country tour holding what they are calling shadow hearings.

The Democrats said the goal is to educate the public about election integrity ahead of the upcoming primaries and November general election. They are also sounding the alarm about several efforts by the Trump administration that the Democrats said threaten to derail the entire election process.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi hosted four of her Congressional colleagues and a panel of experts to talk about it all Thursday in San Francisco.

At the start of the shadow hearing in San Francisco, the dean of UC Law San Francisco opened with a comment about President Donald Trump’s proposal dubbed the “Save America Act.”

“The principal subject of today’s event concerns the ‘Save America Act.’ I have to say, I think we already have a Save America Act in place. It’s called the 25th Amendment,” UC Law San Francisco Dean David Faigman said.

The 25th Amendment clarifies the presidential line of succession if the president is removed, resigns or is declared incapable of carrying out his duties by his cabinet.

The current “Save America Act” proposal is an effort by Congressional Republicans to change voting rules and requirements nationwide.

Supporters said it is a necessary step to help ensure the ongoing integrity of America’s elections by requiring further verification of a voter’s identity.

Opponents said, if passed, it will disenfranchise millions of voters by making it harder to register to vote and cast a ballot.

At Thursday’s hearing, Pelosi and her colleagues told the crowd America’s elections are safe, accurate, fair and legitimate, and vow to do all they can to derail the bill and, in their words, defend democracy.

“Legislation, litigation, communication, mobilization, we’re doing all of these things,” Pelosi said.

Congressman Joe Morelle, from Rochester, New York, said they are also concerned about other recent actions by the Trump administration related to elections.

“We’re concerned about the president and his chaotic reckless ways,” Morelle said. “So we’re continuing to do tabletop exercises. We’re thinking about the ways in which he can disrupt or his allies can disrupt this election.”

Among the concerns is possibly sending federal agents to polling places.

The administration said the goal is to protect election integrity. Democrats said it means to intimidate voters. That is why they are urging voters to cast their ballots as early as possible this year.

And even more urgently, Democrats are asking voters to check their registration with the California Secretary of State’s Office to make sure everything is current and correct.

“And if you’re not registered, or you’re not registered at your current address, or you’ve changed your name, often people think that they have a current registration, but they don’t, so it’s worth to check it right now,” said Brittany Stonesiffer with California Common Cause.

Pelosi and her colleagues said they are holding the shadow hearings in a non-partisan effort to protect the integrity of the upcoming election and are hoping as many people as possible turn out to vote, regardless of party.