For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Contact: Genevieve Greene, ggreene@seventy.org, 617-785-6991
Philadelphia, PA – The Committee of Seventy released the following statement in response to recent requests by the Department of Justice for voter registration data and comments by President Trump about mail-in and machine voting.
“The Department of Justice has submitted several data requests over the last few months to the Pennsylvania Department of State regarding voter registration data. Additionally, President Trump made comments yesterday that call into question the integrity of mail-in and machine voting. These kinds of actions and statements can intensify quickly with dangerous consequences. Once misinformation takes hold, it is extremely difficult to correct – and often, as seen with the recent Newsmax settlement over false claims from the 2020 election, accountability comes long after the damage is done.
As a 121-year-old organization committed to advocating for more free, fair, safe and secure elections, we feel obligated to recognize these efforts for what they are: an overstep of the federal government’s jurisdiction over elections and an attempt to baselessly erode trust in our elections. In our Constitutional Republic, elections are overseen at the state level and there has never been any credible evidence of widespread voter fraud. There is strength and security built into the current system and it’s critical that we maintain those silos to protect the integrity of our elections and our democracy.
It seems clear that these efforts by the federal government are an attempt to sow doubt in our elections ahead of the 2026 midterms. Whether the intention is to lay the groundwork for rejecting results in the event of a loss, or to exploit states where one party controls all branches of government to push a federal agenda, the facts are the facts: our elections are secure, mail-in voting is secure, and election administration must remain in the hands of the states.
We are committed to using every tool at our disposal to ensure it stays that way, but there are steps individuals can take to increase confidence in these systems, as well. Serving as a poll worker is one way to see for yourself just how secure these systems are. Pennsylvania needs more than 40,000 poll workers to ensure that each of our elections run smoothly. We also encourage everyone to explore the Committee of Seventy’s resources on Election Administration to learn more about the facts and also explore our Five Habits of Active Citizens, which highlight the importance of inviting diverse perspectives and choosing your news wisely.”
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