Washington ¨C The White House spent months looking for ways to bypass a federal election agency and use emergency powers to force changes to voting machines, before President Donald Trump ousted its leaders on Thursday, four people familiar with the matter said.
Some officials were frustrated with what they saw as the Election Assistance Commission¡¯s slowness in updating guidelines for states on voting machines, the sources said, while some also wanted it to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement ?to its national mail voter registration form and address other election-related priorities of the administration.
Democratic lawmakers criticized the firings as an attempt to increase its control over U.S. ?elections, which ?are the purview of the states, and as undermining election integrity ahead of November¡¯s midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at ?stake.
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