Fox News reports that “all House Democrats signed onto a sweeping election reform bill Monday that they claim will expand voting rights and “clean up corruption” in politics – as Republicans rip it as a “federal government takeover” and accuse Democrats of trying to change election rules to benefit themselves.”
Democrat Rep. Sarbanes announced in a statement Monday that all House Democrats would sign on to be a co-sponsor for the election reform bill.
My previous reporting on the HR-1:
“The bill dedicates six sections to “promoting internet registration.” HR-1 forces all states to change their voter registration laws to allow for people to register to vote online, including the use of the internet to update registration information; provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals registered to vote; clarification of requirement regarding necessary information to show eligibility to vote; prohibiting States from requiring applicants to provide more than the last 4 digits of their Social Security number.
The bill requires states to adopt “automatic [voter] registration” at participating agencies. For example, when handling business at the DMV, you will be automatically registered to vote unless you were to manually opt-out. How many millions of Americans will be unknowingly registered to vote?
HR-1 also wants mandates that states allow same-day registration for voters wishing to vote in federal elections. Section 1041 makes it harder for us to purge our voter rolls of illegal and ineligible voters by refusing to allow voter rolls to go through an “interstate cross-check” and by refusing any cross-check removals from the voter rolls within 6 months of the election.”
Sarbanes statement said, “House Democrats are united in our steadfast commitment to advance transformational anti-corruption and clean election reforms by swiftly passing H.R.-1. Our historic reform effort will end decades of dysfunction in Washington, return power to the people and build a more just, equitable, and prosperous country for all Americans.”
The Fox report states that the bill could be considered on the floor as early as next week. The swiftness with which they want to ram the legislation through has Republicans calling for the brakes to be put on. Republicans claim that the bill allows for a full ‘federal government takeover’ of our elections and will give the federal government more power in deciding who represents the American people.
Since our last reporting on “For The People Act,” the Democrats added the promise of “full congressional voting rights and self-government for the residents of the District of Columbia, which only statehood can provide.” On the face of the argument, giving D.C. – an 8-square-mile city – statehood doesn’t seem that sinister. However, when the capital moved to Washington D.C., it was decided that D.C. would become non-partisan. Elevating D.C. to a state would completely erase that idea and transplant two permanent Democrat Senate seats as a result.
Do you think the election reform bill HR-1 will pass?
This would drastically change the state of our elections, forever. Allowing the Democrats this much control over our election process is like giving the thief a gate code but locking the front door.
Sen. McConnell, who has come under fire for being a complete and utter backstabbing toad, said that the bill was Democrats’ way of “changing the rules of American politics to benefit one party.” While Rep. McCarthy took it a step further, calling it a “massive federal government takeover that would undermine the integrity of our elections.”
The Wall Street Journal editorial had a scathing rebuke of the legislation, saying that this was Pelosi’s attempt at “cementing Democrat political power.” The board said, “Overall, the bill is designed to auto-enroll likely Democratic voters, enhance Democratic turnout, with no concern for ballot integrity.”
The American Civil Liberties Union attempted to stop the bill once last year when Democrats in the Senate were urging to bring it forward.
The ACLU called on Congress to vote “no” on the bill because of “provisions that unconstitutionally impinge on the free speech rights of American citizens and public interest organization. They will have the effect of harming our public discourse by silencing necessary voices that would otherwise speak out about the public issues of the day.” The Wall Street Journal editorial board agreed that the bill would limit the free speech of some, saying, “the left’s pressure on groups and media will then stigmatize donors.”
Article Source : thefederalistpapers.org
