Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

Senators to EAC Commissioner McCormick: “If you do not disavow these comments immediately, we urge you to resign your position to protect the integrity of the Commission and its important nonpartisan work.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) demanded that Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Commissioner Christy McCormick either rescind her dangerous and false statements about noncitizen voting or resign immediately. During a recent panel at the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute, McCormick spread a conspiracy theory that Democrats “need open borders, they need illegal citizens to increase their votes […] And this is why they’re fighting so adamantly against us.”

The EAC’s stated mission is to “help election officials improve the administration of elections and help Americans participate in the voting process.” However, President Trump has repeatedly tried to weaponize the agency through his illegal anti-voter executive order and other actions beyond Executive Branch authority, including his attempts to require burdensome documentary proof of citizenship, to unilaterally rewrite voting system standards, and to preclude states from counting mail-in ballots according to state law. The Senators condemned McCormick’s abuse of her role on the bipartisan EAC to promote harmful, baseless misinformation that threatens election officials and the security of American elections.

“This is deeply dangerous to voters, our election system, and more broadly to our democracy,” wrote the Senators. “EAC Commissioners carry an extra level of responsibility when speaking about election administration, and if you stand by your public statements about widespread voter fraud without any evidence, we urge you to resign immediately.”

“It is completely unacceptable for an individual who was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on a bipartisan commission with this mission to make inflammatory, false, and partisan claims of voter fraud conspiracy theories,” continued the Senators. “This rhetoric of significant noncitizen voting is used — without evidence — to advance false claims around the security of our elections and anyone who willingly espouses it both undermines election officials, sows distrust in our system and is regularly weaponized to further suppress eligible voters.”

Contrary to McCormick’s claims, voting by noncitizens is extremely rare and is already a federal crime punishable by up to one year in prison, as eligible voters must attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, but baseless accusations by President Trump and his allies have real consequences, including increased threats against local election workers.

Senator Padilla has led the charge opposing President Trump’s unlawful attempt at a Presidential power grab through his anti-voter executive order and weaponization of the EAC. Earlier this year, Padilla led 14 Democratic Senators in calling on President Trump to revoke his illegal executive order that would disenfranchise millions of Americans. Additionally, Padilla and U.S. Representative Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.-25) warned officials at the EAC about the dangerous implications for elections following President Trump’s executive order purporting to bring independent regulatory agencies under total control of the White House. 

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Commissioner McCormick,

We write to condemn your October 29, 2025, remarks before the America First Policy Institute in which you claimed that Democratic opposition to restrictive voting laws is because “They need open borders, they need illegal citizens to increase their votes […] And this is why they’re fighting so adamantly against us.” These comments are indefensible and bring into question whether you are fit to serve as a commissioner on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

This is deeply dangerous to voters, our election system, and more broadly to our democracy. EAC Commissioners carry an extra level of responsibility when speaking about election administration, and if you stand by your public statements about widespread voter fraud without any evidence, we urge you to resign immediately.

The mission statement of the EAC states that it serves to “[help] election officials improve the administration of elections and helps Americans participate in the voting process.” It is completely unacceptable for an individual who was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on a bipartisan commission with this mission to make inflammatory, false, and partisan claims of voter fraud conspiracy theories. This rhetoric of significant noncitizen voting is used – without evidence – to advance false claims around the security of our elections and anyone who willingly espouses it both undermines election officials, sows distrust in our system and is regularly weaponized to further suppress eligible voters.

As you know, voting by noncitizens is exceedingly rare, and there are already checks in place to ensure that noncitizens do not register to vote, as eligible voters attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury and voting for noncitizens in federal elections is a federal crime, punishable by up to one year in prison. While the President and his allies continually repeat such false claims, and denies the outcome of the 2020 election, there is no evidence of significant voter fraud, including fraud involving noncitizen voters.

Our opposition to efforts at the EAC to restrict voter access stems from the President’s illegal attempts to exert authority over elections that the Executive Branch lacks under our constitution. Efforts to modify voter registration procedures to require burdensome documentary proof of citizenship, to direct your Commission to condition federal funds on compliance with registration of ballot counting procedures, to prevent states from counting mail ballots received after Election Day, or to direct voting system standards fall far outside of what the President is able to do and under the Elections Clause, clearly belong to Congress and the States to decide.

Again, it is unacceptable for an EAC Commissioner to make public statements amplifying partisan election conspiracy theories. If you do not disavow these comments immediately, we urge you to resign your position to protect the integrity of the Commission and its important nonpartisan work.

Sincerely,

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