Executive Summary
- Four Democratic senators are calling for Election Assistance Commissioner Christy McCormick to resign or retract recent comments about non-citizen voters.
- McCormick claimed at an America First Policy Institute event that Democrats need “illegal citizens to increase their votes.”
- The senators’ letter describes the comments as “indefensible,” “false,” and a threat to the EAC’s nonpartisan mission.
- The EAC is an independent agency that assists states in administering elections and certifies voting equipment.
A group of Democratic senators is calling for U.S. Election Assistance Commission member Christy McCormick to either resign or retract recent remarks in which she claimed Democrats seek to use non-citizens to “increase their votes.” The comments have been condemned by the lawmakers as “indefensible” and a threat to the agency’s nonpartisan mission.
In a formal letter, Senators Alex Padilla of California, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Adam Schiff of California confronted McCormick over her statements. “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,’” the letter stated.
The senators argued that McCormick’s position is untenable given her statements. The letter urges her to either “disavow these comments immediately” or resign “to protect the integrity of the Commission and its important nonpartisan work.”
The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent federal agency tasked with helping states administer elections and certifying voting equipment. Although McCormick is a Republican appointee, commissioners are expected to serve in a politically neutral capacity. Her comments were made during a panel discussion at the America First Policy Institute, an organization aligned with President Donald Trump.
The senators’ letter highlighted that voting by non-citizens is exceedingly rare and that McCormick was echoing a “deeply partisan falsehood.” They wrote, “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.”
The demand from the senators follows an earlier call for McCormick’s resignation from Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, a member of the EAC’s Standards Board. As of this report, the Election Assistance Commission has not issued a response to requests for comment on the matter.