State Representative Gale Mastrofrancesco Issues Statement in Response to White House Executive Order Strengthening Election Safeguards

HARTFORD—State Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, R-Wolcott, the Ranking House Republican on the General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, issued the following statement in response to an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to strengthen safeguards for U.S. elections and prevent election fraud.

“I applaud this decision by the Trump administration to enforce what should be commonsense safeguards for our elections – providing proof of citizenship, identification for voting and data sharing that will assist states in maintaining accurate voter rolls. For years now, House Republicans have continually called for election protections, including presenting identification when voting, ending the use of absentee ballot drop boxes and signature verification for all absentee ballots,” said Rep. Mastrofrancesco. “Just recently, Connecticut Republicans had asked for federal intervention following the voting scandal in Bridgeport, which is unlikely to be isolated to one city. This is absolutely an issue that voters want to see addressed and I appreciate the President for taking action to restore faith in our elections.”

The executive order, issued Tuesday, states:

“Under the Constitution, State governments must safeguard American elections in compliance with Federal laws that protect Americans’ voting rights and guard against dilution by illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error. Yet the United States has not adequately enforced Federal election requirements that, for example, prohibit States from counting ballots received after Election Day or prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote.”

Rep. Mastrofrancesco is available to answer any questions or concerns pertaining to state government. She can be reached by email at Gale.Mastrofrancesco@housegop.ct.gov or by phone at (800) 842-1423. You can also follow her legislative activity by visiting her website at www.repmastrofrancesco.com or her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/repgale