Issue One announces new additions to National Council on Election Integrity ahead of upcoming November elections

During this critical election year, Issue One is pleased to announce the additions of former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, and former Registrar of Voters for Orange County, CA, Neal Kelley to its bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity (NCEI) — a body of over 40 government, political, and civic leaders who are devoted to defending the legitimacy of our elections.

The council was established in advance of the 2020 presidential election to push back against false and misleading information and to promote the safety, security, and accessibility of U.S. elections. The bipartisan body has continued to stand for the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power, and oppose all forms of political violence. The NCEI is co-chaired by former Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Amb. Tim Roemer (D-IN), and Zach Wamp (R-TN). Other members include former Sec. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Sec. Leon Panetta (D-CA), Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Amb. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL), Adm. Mike Rogers, Adm. Bill Owens, Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO), Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), RNC Chair Michael Steele, DNC Chair Donna Brazile, election official Tina Barton.

“Issue One’s National Council on Election Integrity has been an important bipartisan voice and defender of the rule of law, our nation’s free and fair elections, and the brave people who ensure that every legitimate ballot is counted fairly and accurately,” said Issue One Director of Election Protection Carah Ong Whaley. “Governor Hutchinson, Secretary Wyman, and Neal Kelley bring decades of experience and public service to the council. We thank them for their leadership and continued efforts to uphold the core tenets of our democracy. Together we will continue to uphold the values that define our great American experiment — that we accept the outcome of our elections, respect the will of the voters, and transfer power peacefully.”

Prior to his 2024 presidential campaign, Gov. Hutchinson served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023, was a member of President George W. Bush’s administration, represented Arkansas’s 3rd congressional district in Congress from 1997 to 2001, and was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas from 1982 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan.

Before joining the NCEI, Kim Wyman served as Washington Secretary of State from 2013 to 2021. Her career in elections began in 1993 as Thruston County Election Director and later Auditor, where she successfully pioneered some of the country’s first vote-by-mail elections and collaborated on many national elections and cybersecurity initiatives. Respected for her bipartisan leadership, Secretary Wyman was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden to serve as CISA’s senior election security advisor. She is currently a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and president of ESI Consulting.

Finally, Neal Kelley, who is also a member of Issue One’s Faces of Democracy campaign, was the registrar of voters for Orange County, California, the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States, serving more than 1.9 million registered voters, from 2005 through 2022. In his role as the county’s chief election official, he led an organization responsible for conducting elections, verifying petitions, and maintaining voter records. He was also an adjunct professor with Riverside Community College’s Business Administration Department, and served as a police officer in Southern California during the mid-1980s.

Last month, members of the NCEI urged members of Congress to invest in our critical election infrastructure and provide election officials with adequate, regular, and stable funding to ensure they have the resources they need to keep our elections free and fair. “As former public servants, national security experts, and civic leaders, we know that protecting our democracy from both foreign and domestic threats requires Congress to fulfill its responsibilities by providing meaningful, reliable, and long-term investments so that local and state election administrators can continue to do their jobs,” the NCEI wrote. “Adversaries’ capabilities continue to evolve and improve, but federal support for state and local election officials has not increased to meet this dire need.”

As Co-chairs Rep. Comstock (R-VA) and Amb. Roemer (D-IN) recently wrote in an op-ed published by the South Bend Tribune: “The best way Congress can ensure we count every vote and enable the peaceful transfer of power is to provide the necessary resources for those on the frontlines doing the work of democracy.”

Issue One is the leading crosspartisan political reform group in Washington, D.C. We unite Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the movement to fix our broken political system, strengthen U.S. elections, address the harms that social media is having on our democracy, limit the influence of big money over politics, and improve the ability of Congress to solve problems.

Learn more about our bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity.