On 27 May I had the privilege of joining Kandice Nuzum and the Marion County Republicans for a talk given by the WV Secretary of State Mac Warner on election integrity. While at the Memorial Day parade in Grafton, we encountered a billboard van spreading misinformation about elections in West Virginia, despite the fact that West Virginia elections are among the cleanest in the nation.
The consistent theme behind these events is the Democrats’ attempt to take over election law with the misnamed For the People Act. The Pelosi-controlled House passed the Act on 13 March 2021. Despite Joe Manchin’s flip flopping, the Act appears to be blocked in the Senate. Still, Democrats could pick it up and push it again at any time. What is in the For the People Act?
For the People Act of 2021 (HR1/S1)
- Would have a disastrous impact on election integrity. It would ban voter ID, currently the law in 29 states, nationwide. It would allow universal vote by mail and legalize ballot harvesting by political operatives in every state in the union.
- Requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting. In effect this would take the ability to draw lines away from the people’s elected representatives and put power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats.
- Represents a federal takeover of election security. By dictating to states how secure their election systems it neuters state rights and federalizes our nation’s election system.
- Creates a Democrat campaign bailout fund by matching small dollar donations on a 6-to-1 basis. For every $1 in small donations, a politician would receive $6 dollars in matching TAXPAYER money. The provision has been appropriately nicknamed the “Politician Welfare Fund.”
- Requires a code of conduct for all Supreme Court Justices and Federal judges, but does not specify what that code will be. This creates a back door for court packing by potentially disqualifying conservative justices on trumped up charges.
- Forces the President, the Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose 10 years of tax returns.
HR1/S1 is unconstitutional. Article 1 section 4 of the US Constitution gives authority for elections to the states, with a limited role for the Federal government. HR1/S1 would allow the Internal Revenue Service to investigate policy positions of organizations applying for non-profit status and force all legal challenges to HR1/S1 to be filed only in the heavily Democratic District of Columbia. As noted above, laws that require voter identification would be banned.
HR1/S1 would increase the risk of fraud through mandating automatic and same day voter registration without any practical ability to verify the eligibility of voters. For example. illegal immigrants, who are allowed to have a driver’s license in 16 states and the District of Columbia,[1] would be registered to vote automatically on receiving their license. They could be registered again at corrections and welfare offices, and at Federal facilities. By using absentee ballots or traveling to different precincts, they could cast multiple votes. HR1/S1 prevents election officials from checking the eligibility and qualifications of voters and removing ineligible voters.
Through online registration, HR1/S1 would open the door to massive voter fraud through hacking. After the recent debacle in which Russian hackers took over a critical US oil pipeline, the threat should be obvious. Under this bill, even small donors would be identified and could be harassed publicly.
The Heritage Foundation notes, HR1/S1 would “Mandate no-fault absentee ballots, which are the tool of choice for vote thieves. It would ban witness signature or notarization requirements for absentee ballots; force states to accept absentee ballots received up to 10 days after Election Day as long as they are postmarked by Election Day; and require states to allow vote trafficking (vote harvesting) so that any third parties—including campaign staffers and political consultants—can pick up and deliver absentee ballots.”[2]
Heritage continues, HR1/S1 would “Expand regulation and government censorship of campaigns and political activity and speech, including online and policy-related speech. HR1 would impose onerous legal and administrative compliance burdens and costs on candidates, citizens, civic groups, unions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. Many of these provisions violate the First Amendment, protect incumbents, and reduce the accountability of politicians to the public; its onerous disclosure requirements for nonprofit organizations would subject their members and donors to intimidation and harassment—the modern equivalent of the type of disclosure requirements the U.S. Supreme Court in NAACP v. Alabama (1958) held violated associational rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.”[3]
There are many other problems in this blatant Democratic power grab, and thankfully, at this time it appears to be blocked by our Republican team in the Senate. Another voting bill, the John L. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is another threat to US election security, is just beginning to raise its head. Our GOP team is preparing effective countermeasures.
West Virginia elections are exemplary. For example, we have protections to screen non-citizens at automatic registration locations, such as the MDV. WV also leads the nation in enfranchisement of our military members and their families overseas. That is not true in other states. West Virginians must keep the pressure up against the For the People Act and elect solid conservative candidates in November of 2022. Thanks for your help.
[1] National Conference of State Legislatures, https://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/states-offering-driver-s-licenses-to-immigrants.aspx.
[2] The Facts About H.R. 1: The “For the People Act of 2021,” https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/report/the-facts-about-hr-1-the-the-people-act-2021.
[3] The Facts About H.R. 1: The “For the People Act of 2021,” https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/report/the-facts-about-hr-1-the-the-people-act-2021.
