Garcia launches election security congressional group

Rep. Mike Garcia, RSanta Clarita, announced Tuesday the creation of the Election Integrity Caucus in Congress.

“The caucus will focus on addressing election security and restoring faith in the U.S. election system,” according to a statement from Garcia’s office.

The caucus plans to also educate and inform about “issues related to election security and activity, drive commonsense policy solutions to restore faith in the democratic process, and improve the administration of elections.”

Garcia’s statement cites his own narrow margin of victory in last year’s general election against Democrat Christy Smith and cites same-day voter registration, the lack of an ID requirement to vote and “ballot harvesting” as examples of “California’s failed election policies.”

Garcia voted against the For the People Act of 2021, commonly referred to as H.R. 1, which “further erodes American’s confidence in the election process,” according to a statement from the congressman’s office. The Democratsponsored bill’s stated purpose is to increase access to voting.

“Americans deserve to trust our election process — but unfortunately far too many Americans have concerns regarding election integrity. Progressives in D.C. are attempting to model federal election law after California’s current system,” Garcia said in the prepared statement.

Garcia will co-chair the caucus with Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican from New York.