Call your Senator now and tell them to reject H.R.1!

NOTE: At some point, before bed, I read through 50+ news sources and share my findings here. If you like it, share it. If you don’t, share it. Follow my blog now to support my work or to find new reasons to complain about it. My opinions are my own. All tips are welcome as well as comments on my video series - The Jim Stroud Show.

So, I read this article in Townhall called, “Biden Signs Executive Order Aimed at Expanding ‘Voter Access‘ because I have heard a lot of buzz about it moments before. To quote the article:

President Joe Biden on Sunday signed an executive order aimed at expanding voting rights. It’s the Biden administration’s latest move to expand voting rights as they push the Senate to pass H.R. 1, the House Democrats’ bill to radically transform America’s election system, including prohibiting voter ID laws and mandating taxpayers fund political campaigns.

Umm… Is that true? Well, while I still don’t get the outrage over Voter ID laws, the idea of my having to pay for political campaigns is enough for me to call my Senator and persuade them (ever so eloquently) to vote against it. But are those 2 items the only thing I disagree with in this bill? NO. There is more that I just don’t like and since most people have a life and don’t have the time to research the bill further, allow me to share what I learned. Afterwards, do what you will with the knowledge.

First of the all, the bill that passed through the House and is now enroute to the Senate is 800-pages long. (Well, actually 791 pages, to be exact.) I would love it if they made a law that said all bills should max at 50 pages. Sure, that would mean more legislation traffic but at least the citizenry and the politicians would be able to read it BEFORE THEY VOTE ON IT. Several political pundits have, liberal and conservative, loosely united against the passing of this legislation. That says a lot right there.

The ACLU said this, according to Politifact:

  • The ACLU told lawmakers in 2019 that it opposed the bill. The group said it supported provisions to expand voting rights, but opposed campaign finance provisions that it said would limit free speech.
  • In 2021, the ACLU didn’t use the word “oppose” in their letter to lawmakers. But the group still has multiple criticisms of the bill. An attorney for the organization said it strongly supports many provisions.

Twenty Republican state attorneys general signed a letter denouncing the House Democrats’ controversial election reform bill as unconstitutional for several reasons. To quote a Fox News article focused on the matter.

The letter — led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita — tore into H.R. 1, the “For the People Act,” a massive election reform bill and a leading priority for House Democrats this Congress.

“This monstrosity of a bill betrays the Constitution, dangerously federalizes state elections, and undermines the integrity of the ballot box,” Rokita said in a statement to Fox News. “As a former chief election officer, and now an Attorney General, I know this would be a disaster for election integrity and confidence in the processes that have been developed over time to instill confidence in the idea of ‘one person, one vote.’”

The Federalist did a more comprehensive analysis of why H.R. 1 should be a non-starter in the Senate. Based on their quotes and analysis, here are some of the problems I have with H.R. 1.

  • The bill would establish a “Commission to Protect Democratic Institutions” that would have the power to force judges to testify before a panel of unelected federal bureaucrats…This commission, the Heritage analysis finds, “would be given the authority to compel judges to testify and justify their legal decisions, threatening their independent judgment and subjecting them to political pressure and harassment.”
  • The bill mandates universal mail-in balloting and requires states to wait ten days after election day for any outstanding tranches of ballots to be suddenly discovered in Democrat-run strongholds — oops, I mean, allow all ballots to arrive. 
  •  “Voter ID laws remain popular, with thirty-five states requiring some form of documentary personal identification at the polls. Yet the Act would dismantle meaningful voter ID laws by allowing a statement, as a substitute for prior-issued, document-backed identification, to ‘attest[] to the individual’s identity and . . . that the individual is eligible to vote in the election.’ 
  • This bill would essentially create de facto voting rights for the tens of millions of non-citizens inside the United States. Under this bill, states must automatically register every adult and are legally prohibited from inspecting or checking whether anyone who votes is legally eligible to do so. The bill also bans courts from enforcing any legal penalties on any foreign citizens who illegally vote in the United States (Section 1015).
  • The bill would also “Prevent election officials from checking the eligibility and qualifications of voters and removing ineligible voters,” notes the Heritage analysis. It would require every ballot to be considered legitimate from the get-go, effectively banning provisional ballots. Those are currently used, for example, when a voter shows up at the polls and records say he already voted or he is registered using incorrect information such as the wrong address. Under this bill, he could still vote without the error being cleared up, and with a regular, not provisional, ballot.
  • If passed, the bill would require that political speakers and nonprofit organizations publish the identities of their donors. 
  • The bill would establish a commission of unelected national bureaucrats to decide where the political boundaries for various districts will be, rather than state elected officials.
  • … This would also create numerous duplicate voter registrations that the bill bans state and local officials from cleaning up, potentially assisting individuals in voting multiple times.

H.R. 1 passed through the House of Representatives without a single Republican vote. Democrats control the Senate so the hope is that the more moderate Democrats will work with the Republican minority to push back against the bill. But, who knows?

If you have no problem with any of the items I pointed out in H.R. 1 then, do nothing. The winds are blowing in your favor. If you feel otherwise and I hope you do, there is still time to air your discontent. Here are a few ways.

CONTACT YOUR SENATOR AND URGE THEM TO ACT

  1. Visit the Senate website (www.senate.gov).
  2. Conduct a search using the Find Your Senators pull-down menu in the upper right corner (select your state and click Go).
  3. On the results page is a link to the Senators’ website, contact information, and links to an online contact form (forms vary by Senator).

CONTACT YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY DID TO FIGHT H.R. 1

  1. Visit the House of Representatives website (www.house.gov).
  2. Conduct a search using the Find Your Representative zip code search box in the upper right corner (enter your zip code and click Go).
  3. On the results page is a photo of your Representative(s), links to the Representative’s personal website and online contact form, and a local map.
  4. In the event your zip code overlaps with multiple congressional districts, the results page will include boxes for you to enter your zip code+4 or mailing address to find the correct Representative.

SHARE YOUR DISCONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Using the steps above, navigate to the Congress members’ personal website to find links to their social media accounts, usually indicated by the icon of the social media platform and often located in the upper or lower left or right corners of the website homepage.
  • CSPAN also maintains a Twitter list of members of Congress. Click here and tweet away.

SHARE THIS EMAIL WITH YOUR NETWORK!

  • Send this blog post to people in your network who would do something positive to promote this issue and muster support against it.

…

Please, do something.

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