WASHINGTON— Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brought the left’s radical election legislation to floor of the U.S. Senate. The massive 887-page proposal is crammed with policies that would make it easier to cheat in U.S. elections and cancel the votes of eligible, law-abiding American voters, irrevocably damaging America’s electoral system.
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow and manager of Heritage’s Election Law Reform Initiative, released the following statement slamming the effort to undermine our electoral system:
“When it comes to our elections, policymakers should be focused on one goal: making it easier to vote, and harder to cheat. Sadly, this legislation does the opposite. In reality, this mammoth leftist takeover of elections threatens election security and compromises every American’s fundamental right to vote. It would require nationwide implementation of the worst changes in election rules from the 2020 election, and go even further in eroding and eliminating basic security protocols that states have in place.
“Among the long list of bad items, the bill would prevent states and their citizens from truly updating and ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls, determining the qualifications and eligibility of voters, securing the fairness and integrity of elections, participating and speaking freely in the political process, funneling American taxpayer dollars to the campaigns of political incumbents, and determining the boundaries of their districts. Importantly, the changes recently proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin to S. 1 are cosmetic and do not change the unwise, dangerous, and reckless requirements of this proposal.
“The Heritage Foundation has worked tirelessly to make our elections accessible, secure and fair. Americans’ faith in the integrity of our electoral process is critical to the health of our republic. We will continue to fight so that each and every eligible American citizen’s vote counts and is not stolen by those who cheat the system.”
The changes included in S. 1, and its substitute S. 2093, are widely unpopular amongst Americans, including removing voter ID requirements and requiring public funding of political campaigns. According to studies, 75% of Americans support voter ID requirements, including a majority of Democrats. In contrast to policies Democrats are proposing, 64% of Americans say they want officials to focus on strengthening election safeguards.
To learn more about the many bad and unpopular mandates included in the misnamed “For the People Act,” click HERE.
As part of Heritage’s effort to better secure America’s elections, the organization maintains an Election Fraud Database, which includes a small sampling of recent proven cases of election fraud, demonstrating the types of fraud that can occur. Learn more HERE.
