House launches poll watcher program amid GOP-wide push for election security

FIRST ON FOX: A program is being rolled out and overseen by the House of Representatives this week that is aimed at boosting transparency in the high-profile fight for control of Congress.

"We're excited to really ramp the program up, roll it out, as we come into the final eight weeks before the election," House Committee on Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital in an interview about the program, which has been used in several election cycles.

More than a dozen House races are expected to come down to razor-thin margins in November. Democrats are fighting to win back control from the House GOP and the fight is likely to be close either way.

The House Committee on Administration is moving to boost accountability efforts at the polls for such races through the Election Observer Program.

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Congressional staffers are eligible to volunteer for a training program that would set them up to be poll watchers in the upcoming election. 

They would then be sent out to districts, not including their own, if requested by a congressional candidate in a close race.

"I think uniquely this Congress, we can raise awareness, engagement and participation in the program," Steil said. "This is a program that's been around for some time, and it's been a successful program. My staff has participated in it, and I think it's an important piece of the puzzle as we work to enhance the integrity and Americans' confidence in our elections."

He said it is imperative to boost the program's visibility so that candidates and incumbents running across the political spectrum in November know it is available to them.

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Asked if he had any particular security concerns about this year's elections, Steil said he was "frustrated" by a lack of answers from the Biden administration in response to his probing of a June executive order aimed at using federal resources to bolster voter access.

"The administration continues to hide the ball on the work they're doing as it relates to President Biden's executive order, and I think there's areas in particular as it relates to noncitizen voting that we should work to continue to get in place," Steil said.

The House's Election Observer Program is one of several election security measures Steil has used his committee gavel to focus on.

Democrats, meanwhile, have panned several key GOP-led election efforts as voter suppression. 

Congressional Democrat leaders are also opposing a short-term government funding bill that is attached to legislation mandating proof of citizenship in the voter registration process. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the Republican plan "extreme."

Steil said he hopes Democrats utilize the program as they had before, though he conceded that election integrity issues have become highly political.

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"A lot of things that did not used to be viewed as partisan in nature, in particular as it relates to election integrity, have become an attempt by the left to try to weaponize the efforts in the other direction," he said. "We'll see how our Democratic colleagues respond to a program they participated in the past."

"But I am of the view that we have an opportunity to take this program and move it up to the next level, both in visibility and in participation."