Speaking before the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections today, RNLA Co-Chair Harmeet Dhillon said it best:
"The unspoken truth is that all voters, including Democrats, know that Voter ID and voter list maintenance are important tools to maintain voter confidence in election administration and the results they produce. Democrat politicians and radical activists undermine that valuable confidence when they fail to support these commonsense and widely-supported tools."
Throughout the hearing, Democrat members of the Subcommittee and their witnesses attacked and undermined widely-supported election integrity laws like requiring voter ID and voter list maintenance—two procedures that dramatically increase voter confidence in elections.
(Thread 1/3) I testified before Congress on #VoterID laws this morning -- as an immigrant woman of color, I'm offended that those who oppose Voter ID laws believe that we are too incompetent or incapable of obtaining IDs -- watch my opening statement: pic.twitter.com/IWxkfzSj2p
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) May 24, 2021
Co-Chair Dhillon made her frustrations clear with the blatant disregard Democrat officials and liberal activists have concerning the vast public support these election safeguards have:
"Every poll I am aware of taken both before and after the 2020 election regarding Voter ID has shown overwhelming support among Democrat, Independent and Republican voters. Most recently, 69% of black and 82% of other minority voters expressed support for Voter ID laws nationwide, yet the Democrats think these voters are utterly incapable of obtaining ID to vote. As an American and a person of color, I find that offensive."
And this polling is true even across party lines:
"75% of Likely U.S. Voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote...Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Republicans support voter ID requirements, as do 60% of Democrats and 77% of voters not affiliated with either major party."
Co-Chair Dhillon highlighted how policies like requiring voter ID boost voter confidence in elections by putting forth the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform's assessment of waning voter confidence and how to fix it:
"[T]he 2005 Carter-Baker Commission on Voting in a report called Building Confidence in US Elections predicted what is currently happening. They said:
Americans are losing confidence in the fairness of elections, and while we do not face a crisis today, we need to address the problems of our electoral system.
That crisis is upon us now. The Commission offered a simple solution:
The electoral system cannot inspire public confidence if no safeguards exist to deter and detect fraud or to confirm the identity of voters. Photo IDs are currently needed to board a plane, enter Federal buildings, and cash a check. Voting is equally important.
And Democrats are doing the opposite by refusing to embrace the bipartisan solutions of the Carter-Baker Commission such as requiring Voter ID."
Co-Chair Dhillon called out the hypocrisy of Democratic members of Congress for their opposition to requiring voters to get a free ID:
"Also of note, Voter ID laws today provide free IDs to those that do not have them – so that they may vote and enjoy other freedoms in today’s society. Such identification is necessary for practically every social service, including certain welfare benefits for those most in need. Why would we not want to help citizens obtain ID?"
RNLA Co-Chair @pnjaban points out @SpeakerPelosi's hypocrisy in requiring Americans visiting the Capitol to show ID when exercising their First Amendment right to petition the government.
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) May 24, 2021
But as Democrats on the Subcommittee continued to cry, "Voter suppression!" at laws requiring Voter ID, Co-Chair Dhillon exposed the lack of support these allegations actually have.
@pnjaban to the House Admin Committee on #VoterID: "The argument against free Voter ID is that it poses a barrier to voting. However, the evidence shows clearly that lacking ID is not even enough of an issue to come up on a poll of reasons why people don’t vote."
— Lawyers Democracy (@lawyersdf) May 24, 2021
"In other words, among the sampled 12,000 non-voters, there was no evidence that any of them cited Voter ID as a barrier to them voting for it to even be measured in the Knight Foundation’s study."
— Lawyers Democracy (@lawyersdf) May 24, 2021
Co-Chair Dhillon didn't stop there. She then highlighted the degree to which laws requiring Voter List Maintenance also positively impact voter confidence.
"But beyond ID, there is a second way to increase voter confidence, and that is by maintaining accurate voter lists. In DC for instance, where this hearing is taking place, voters this last election reported receiving 5 or more ballots intended for former residents of their apartments.vi This is just one example of the problems that arise with inaccurate voting lists. There are countless others.
In 2014, another bipartisan presidential election commission, the Obama Presidential Commission on Election Administration, had this to say concerning accurate voter lists:vii
Accurate voter lists are essential to the management of elections. . . . The quality of the list can affect the ability of people to vote, of election offices to detect problems, and of courts and others monitoring elections to detect election fraud or irregularities. A list with many incorrect records can slow down the processing of voters at polling places resulting in longer lines. . . . Election officials across the political spectrum recognize the value of accurate and manageable voter rolls.
Yet virtually every time state election officials seek to clean up voter lists, Democrats sue and fight to stop such efforts."
Despite the constant rhetoric from the radical Left, the reality is that voter ID laws and voter list maintenance are two election integrity safeguards that are overwhelmingly supported by voters across the board for how they strengthen voter confidence. You can read Co-Chair Dhillon's remarks before the Subcommittee in their entirety by clicking here.