In 2021, Democrats made it their primary objective to pass legislation that would amount to a federal takeover of our election system. They literally made it their number one legislative priority and when that failed, they keep introducing tweaked but equally bad legislation. But Republicans blocked these radical pieces of legislation again and again. As the liberal publication Vox wrote earlier this year, "Congress has repeatedly tried and failed to pass comprehensive voting rights reform this year, even though the Democratic Party holds the majority."
H.R. 1 / S. 1 — the "Corrupt Politicians Act"
H.R. 1 / S. 1, the "Corrupt Politicians Act," was the Democrats' trademark voting legislation. Heritage Action explained:
Under H.R. 1 / S. 1 (the Corrupt Politicians Act), massive amounts of elections-related power would be transferred from the states to the federal government. The bill interferes with the ability of states and their citizens to determine qualifications for voters, to ensure the accuracy of voter registration rolls, to secure the integrity of elections, to participate in the political process, and to determine the district boundary lines for electing their representatives.
This massive centralization of power into the hands of incumbent lawmakers is D.C. politicians' way of trying to make sure the game is rigged in their favor.
Both versions of the legislation were voted down.
As The New York Times noted, the "Corrupt Politicians Act" was doomed from the start:
[I]t was a flawed bill that had little chance of testing the limits of what, if anything, is still possible in Washington. Voting rights activists and Democratic lawmakers may even find that the collapse of this law opens up more plausible, if still highly unlikely, paths to reform.
The law, known as H.R. 1 or S. 1, was full of hot-button measures — from public financing of elections to national mail voting — that were only tangentially related to safeguarding democracy, and all but ensured its failure in the Senate.
However, the bill's failure did not deter Democrats from trying to enact their proposals through other means.
H.R. 4 — the "Nancy Pelosi Power Grab Act"
With H.R. 4, the "Nancy Pelosi Power Grab Act," Democrats attempted to give the federal government a veto over state election laws. As Heritage Action explained:
[W]ith Pelosi’s partisan power grab in H.R. 4, the section 4 coverage rules are re-written to skirt the Supreme Court’s decision so the federal government would once again have veto power over state election laws. Importantly, to overturn an election law, federal employees would not have to show that the law had any discriminatory effect or intent. Not liking the law would be reason enough.
With Leftist partisans wielding a reinstated preclearance veto-power, they would be able to stop countless election security laws passed by state governments. This would enable the Left to continue practices such as ballot harvesting and the mass-mailing of absentee ballots, even to individuals who did not request them. Voter ID would be gone, and in its place, same-day voter registration would become the law of the land.
H.R. 4 was blocked by Senate Republicans in November, but a procedural maneuver by Senator Chuck Schumer leaves open the possibility for it to be considered in the future.
S. 2747 — the "Freedom to Cheat Act"
S. 2747, the "Freedom to Cheat Act," was very similar to the "Corrupt Politicians Act."
The bill failed to pass a Senate cloture vote in October. Like H.R. 4, a procedural maneuver by Senator Chuck Schumer leaves open the possibility for the "Freedom to Cheat Act" to be considered in the future.
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House and Senate Republicans should be applauded for blocking each attempt by Democrats at a federal takeover of elections. Leaders like House Administration Committee Ranking Member Rodney Davis, Senate Rules Ranking Member Roy Blunt and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell were steadfast in their efforts to oppose a corrupt and partisan takeover of our elections.