The Future Of Democracy Is On The Ballot

[Ubiquitous]

Election Day is nearly upon us and Democrats are finally telling
Americans what their top priority will be if they win the White House
and Congress this November. It isn’t securing the border, tackling
inflation, or even enshrining on-demand abortion.

No, if Democrats win big in November, their first move will be passing
a new bill to launch a federal takeover of elections. Democrats have
tried this before, repeatedly trying to ram through Congress numerous
versions of a bill called H.R. 1, an 800-page grab bag of Left-wing
election “reforms” that fundamentally rewrite the nation’s voting laws.
Democrats claim this is just about voting rights. In truth they are
once again aiming to launch a partisan power grab that sacrifices the
integrity of American elections to give liberals a permanent political
edge.

What might be in this bill? Based on Democrats’ proposals in the last
Congress, Americans should be ready for the messy rules of COVID-style
mail-in voting permanent. States would not only be required to offer
no-excuse mail-in voting, but the option to permanently vote by mail.
At the same time, it would be harder to clean bloated voter rolls than
it already is, all but guaranteeing that people will stay on the rolls
— and states will keep sending them ballots — long after they move or
pass away.

Speaking of dirty voter rolls, Democrats want to require automatic
voter registration, an error-prone practice that half our states
currently do not use. Democrats know automatic systems register
ineligible people. In fact just weeks ago, Oregon admitted its system
automatically registered roughly 1,300 noncitizens. That’s why they
slipped a little-known provision into H.R. 1 that prevents anyone,
including noncitizens, from being prosecuted if they illegally vote
after being automatically registered.

Their bill would erase laws against organized vote harvesting in
roughly two dozen states. Democrats want to deploy an army of party
operatives and union organizers to “help” voters fill out ballots, then
collect and return them. The trouble is, vote harvesting creates
obvious opportunities for voter intimidation and fraud. One shocking
example: the mayor of Martin, Kentucky bribed and coerced poor and
disabled voters into casting absentee ballots in favor of her
reelection. In North Carolina, harvesters tampered with or destroyed
hundreds of votes, forcing a high-profile redo of a congressional
election in 2018.

Democrats’ proposals would have made voter ID requirements illegal,
too. Time and again, ID laws have been shown to have no negative impact
on turnout. Thirty-six states have ID laws and 90% of the public favors
them, but Democrats think they know better. Not only does H.R. 1 treat
practically any document with a name and address as ID, it introduces a
bizarre new standard that lets anybody who claims to know a voter “for
at least six months” vouch for his identity. Try that at your local
bank.

The problems would only get worse as elections draw to a close. Most
states require ballots to be received by the close of polls on Election
Day, but Democrats tried to force every state to accept ballots up to
seven days late. That’s the deadline in California, a state that
routinely takes weeks to report results. If Democrats rewrite the
nation’s laws, delays risk becoming the new national norm. That’s
especially true as the Left nudges more people towards mail-in ballots,
and liberal groups push ranked-choice voting (RCV) into more states.
After all, with RCV, tabulation cannot even begin until every ballot is
received.

The other provisions of Democrats’ voting bills are far-reaching,
including mandates for 24-hour drop boxes with little thought given to
security beyond labeling them “secure.” States must offer same-day
registration, even though officials have little or no time to verify a
voter’s eligibility before he casts a vote. New redistricting rules
would give liberals the upper hand in drawing political maps. And
campaign finance laws like the DISCLOSE Act would undermine Americans’
free speech and privacy rights.

To pass any voting bill, Democrats would first need to go nuclear on
the Senate filibuster. Democrats tried to ax it once before, but two
Senate Democrats — Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema — bucked their party
and held the line.

But neither senator will be in office next year and progressives sense
an opportunity. Senate Democrats and Kamala Harris have made
eliminating the filibuster a campaign issue. Once it goes, a federal
takeover of elections, statehood for D.C., Supreme Court “reform,” and
more all become possible on a purely partisan basis.

Ronald Reagan once observed that “freedom is never more than one
generation away from extinction.” That timeframe may be generous.
Progressives are signaling that our republic is never more than one
election away from a fundamental reorganization.

When Democrats say that democracy is on the ballot, they mean it. If
Americans want to stop Congress from rewriting out voting laws, the
best thing to do this November is vote Republican.

[John Doe]

Post by Ubiquitous
When Democrats say that democracy is on the ballot, they mean it. If
Americans want to stop Congress from rewriting out voting laws, the
best thing to do this November is vote Republican.

Gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement are not good policies. They
should be open to being changed by the American voters.