Thanking all election officials and workers for the tireless energy and sacrifice they made to ensure that the November 2020 election ran smoothly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1262 Thanking all election officials and workers for the tireless energy and sacrifice they made to ensure that the November 2020 election ran smoothly amidst the COVID–19 pandemic. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 14, 2020 Mrs. BUSTOS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration RESOLUTION Thanking all election officials and workers for the tireless energy and sacrifice they made to ensure that the No- vember 2020 election ran smoothly amidst the COVID– 19 pandemic. Whereas elections are the foundation of the United States de- mocracy; Whereas the force of election officials and election workers, whose tireless efforts to make such elections possible, have faced unique challenges this year as they prepared for a projected record turnout amid the COVID–19 pan- demic; Whereas election workers— (1) open and close the polls; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1262.IH HR1262 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 1262 IH (2) ensure that only a qualified voter is permitted to vote and that each qualified voter is permitted to vote once and only once; (3) give instructions in the method of voting when requested by a voter; (4) give assistance to illiterate and physically dis- abled voters; (5) maintain order in the polling place throughout early voting and election day voting; (6) tally the vote after the polls are closed; and (7) certify the election results in individual precincts; Whereas considering that in the November 2018 election, there were more than 200,000 polling places in use on election day, and more than 600,000 poll workers pro- vided assistance to voters, the administration of the No- vember 2020 during a pandemic was a notable under- taking; Whereas according to a 2018 report by the Election Assist- ance Commission, in the November 2018 election, ‘‘Forty-five States reported a total of 637,713 poll work- ers assisting at polling places during election day for the 2018 general election. These States reported deploying an average of 8.0 poll workers per polling place on elec- tion day, an average that has been largely the same since the 2012 election.’’; Whereas a new cohort of election workers emerged and volun- teered for the November 2020 election due to the risk that COVID–19 presented for the typical election worker population; Whereas the November 2020 election voter turnout far sur- passed the November 2018 election, and election workers were integral to the successful November 2020 election; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:01 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1262.IH HR1262 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 1262 IH Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic created unprecedented complexities in the administration of the election requir- ing election officials to protect the safety of election workers and the voting public while conducting accurate and timely elections; and Whereas the Election Assistance Commission also recognized November 1 through November 7, 2020, as National Election Official and Election Worker Appreciation Week to recognize the essential work election officials and elec- tion workers do to ensure a safe, secure, accessible, and accurate election that protects the health of voters and our democracy: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives thanks 1 all election officials and workers for the tireless energy and 2 sacrifice they made to ensure that the November 2020 3 election ran smoothly amidst the COVID–19 pandemic. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1262.IH HR1262 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS