The Texas Public Policy Foundation applauds the failure of S. 1, legislation designed to destroy voter protections nationwide and federalize local and state elections, making them more vulnerable to fraud. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, states like Texas moved swiftly to secure elections and restore voter faith in the process of collecting and counting votes, implementing basic security measures such as reducing outside influence of administering elections and more transparent voting procedures. Instead of following the examples of states, Congress instead chose to play partisan politics with the county’s elections procedures.
“The U.S. Constitution empowers state legislatures to organize elections to meet local conditions. S. 1 would have bulldozed state control over election rules by imposing California-style election standards on the entire nation—if by standards one means no standards at all,” said Chuck DeVore, TPPF’s Vice President of National Initiatives and former California state assemblyman. “Its defeat is a victory for fair and honest elections. S. 1 would have outlawed voter ID — which is supported by more than 80% of Americans – hindered proper voter list maintenance, and undermined validation of a person’s eligibility to vote.”
Other liberal priorities, such as HR 4 or the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, are yet another effort by the federal government to involve itself in state and local elections, by weaponizing the DOJ and requiring preclearance before governments can change their voting procedures, a gross overreach of federal power.
“S.1 is just the first volley in the left’s attempts to cram down one-size fits all rules from Washington,” said Chad Ennis, TPPF Senior Fellow. “We look forward to continuing the fight when they bring up the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Although, innocuous sounding, the JLVRA is a second shot for a Washington takeover of all elections.”