Democrats’ Election Takeover Bill
Last week was an example of yet another power-grab attempt and legislative gimmick forced upon Congress by Democrats. Late Wednesday night, House Democrats gutted H.R. 5746, a bill relating solely to NASA, and dropped in voting rights legislation that includes provisions from the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act” (H.R. 4) and “For the People Act” (H.R. 1). Both of these bills had little support from American citizens because they undermine the rights of states to determine their own election laws. This egregious 735-page legislation is now called the “Freedom to Vote Act” and it passed the House Thursday morning, with no time to actually read through the bill or offer amendments.
The irony of this legislation is that it does anything but give more freedom to vote. It would federalize our elections in order for Democrats to maintain power instead of the American people, while making our nation’s election process chaotic, unsecure, and unreliable.
Since each state in the U.S. varies based on population density, socioeconomic status, and other factors that contribute to an election system, it makes sense to allow each state to create a process that works best for its citizens. Oklahoma has one of the most safe and secure election processes in the nation, and that would be taken away if this legislation was enacted. It would strip the notary requirement for absentee ballots and no longer require voter ID, which directly goes against broadly-supported election laws in Oklahoma. We know what’s best for our state, as does each state in this nation, which is why federalizing our election system is ludicrous.
Election funding would also change under this new law by allowing billions of taxpayer dollars to be used to fund election campaigns. It provides for a six-to-one funding match to any donor contributions of $200 or less, meaning the federal government will match $1,200 for every $200 donated. Nancy Pelosi would receive up to $22.7 million for her re-election campaign, as a result. American taxpayers should not be forced to fund political campaigns.
As if it couldn’t get worse, there are many more policies within H.R. 5746 that threaten one of Americans’ most fundamental rights and beliefs, including 24-hour ballot drop boxes with no staff or monitoring required and allowing for same-day voter registration, which Schumer’s own state voted against. Additionally, this law would allow states to accept ballots 7 days after elections, which 83% of Americans disagree with, and would give President Biden’s Attorney General, an unelected bureaucrat, the ability to change state voting laws.
Democrats claim that Republicans want to “suppress voting rights,” but that could not be further from the truth. We want an election process that makes it easy for all citizens to vote, but hard to cheat. H.R. 5746 would do just the opposite, which is why House Republicans unanimously voted against this legislation. The “Freedom to Vote Act” strips away states’ rights, and therefore voters’ rights, which threatens the effectiveness and reliability of the nation’s election system upon which our democracy depends.