Cleta Mitchell’s term ends on November 3, 2023, and her involvement in Donald Trump’s actions to overturn the 2020 presidential election are incompatible with the purpose and mandate of both commissions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 10, 2023) – Free Speech For People and Generation Vote are urging the US Commission on Civil Rights not to reappoint Cleta Mitchell to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Board of Advisors. Her term ends on November 3, 2023. As Free Speech For People and Generation Votes have contended in two letters, Mitchell’s repeated efforts to undermine voting rights and to promote the false claim of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, as well as her testimony before the congressional January 6th Committee in 2022 where she claimed that no one in the American public has a constitutional right to vote for President of the United States, are deeply incompatible with the purpose and mandate of both commissions. 

“The US Commission on Civil Rights and the US Election Assistance Commission must be vigilant in protecting the fundamental right to vote of all Americans and in protecting our elections,” said John Bonifaz, Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People. “The election denier Cleta Mitchell has no place on the advisory board for the Election Assistance Commission and the US Commission on Civil Rights should never have appointed her to that position. For the sake of our democracy, she must not be reappointed.”

“We urge the US Commission on Civil Rights and the US Election Assistance Commission to protect our generation’s freedom to vote and not reappoint election denier and youth vote suppressor, Cleta Mitchell, to the EAC Board of Advisors,” said Brianna Cea, Founder and Executive Director of Generation Vote. “While on the Board, Cleta has ridiculed young voters and recently called for efforts to curtail the youth vote after young people turned out in record numbers across the country. Cleta has proven that she does not have the best interest of all American voters and must not be reappointed to advise our nation’s only federal election administration commission.”

Since her appointment to the EAC Board, Mitchell has continued to promote false claims of

election fraud, to undermine a legitimate, bipartisan program to secure elections, and to advocate for policies that would limit voter access and turnout. While serving as a board member, she has outlined a calculated strategy for limiting voting access for young voters, highlighting the need to curtail voting on college campuses and restrict same-day voter registration.  A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia unanimously recommended indicting Mitchell for the role she played in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential results in Georgia.

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Free Speech For People is a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization working to defend our democracy, uphold the Constitution, and guarantee every person has an equal voice and an equal vote. Founded on the day of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in January 2010, Free Speech For People, through its legal work and advocacy, fights to protect voting rights and election security, challenges big money dominance in elections, confronts government corruption, and seeks to ensure people can participate equally and meaningfully in our democracy. To learn more, please visit www.freespeechforpeople.org.

Generation Vote (GenVote) is a national electoral justice organization sparking an intersectional youth-led movement that fights for our right to vote and a just democracy for all. GenVote is dedicated to building people power for our generation through a national organizing home for youth voting rights organizers, shifting public opinion by making electoral justice issues a major priority for young voters, and fighting for youth voting rights through direct actions and campaigns. To learn more, please visit www.GenVote.org.