If there is one thing that unites those concerned with free speech; open fair and honest elections; libertarians and conservatives; and the GOP and ACLU; it is opposition to HR1.  Today we’ll highlight three groups opposition. 

First, we want to highlight the opinions of those who know elections best, the Secretaries of State who wrote a letter opposing HR 1:

We are writing you today to urge you to reject the “For the People Act” otherwise known as H.R. 1 or S. 1, which is a dangerous overreach by the federal government into the administration of elections.

Each state legislature should have the freedom and flexibility to determine practices that best meet the needs of their respective states. A one-size-fits-all approach mandated by Congress is not the solution to any of our problems.

These bills intrude upon our constitutional rights, and further sacrifice the security and integrity of the elections process. We firmly believe the authority to legislate and regulate these changes should be left with the states.

Earlier today, 9 former FEC Commissioners (including RNLA Board of Governors members Lee Goodman, Matthew Petersen, and Michael Toner) wrote to congressional leadership to express their concerns with Titles IV and VI of Division B of this Congress' version of the "For the People Act" (H.R. 1 and S. 1 respectively). These sections of the nearly 800-page bill dealing with the FEC directly and campaign finance would, as the former Commissioners put it, "complicate the law and hinder grassroots political speech and activism, with little or no benefit to public accountability, transparency, understanding of public policy, or reduction in corruption."

Just like in 2019, Democrats have made sweeping election reforms their top priority for this Congress. One of the most alarming parts of the legislation is its massive restrictions on Americans' freedom of speech. As the Institute for Free Speech's Luke Wachob explained:

Once again, House and Senate Democrats have made it their top legislative priority to limit First Amendment rights, expose Americans to harassment and intimidation for their beliefs, crack down on political speech on the internet, pump millions of tax dollars into politicians’ campaigns, and transform the enforcement of federal campaign finance law into a partisan endeavor. The bill’s cheerleaders, meanwhile, have made it their top priority to lie to the public about the proposal.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to push a federal power grab for elections with the HEROES Act, the problems with her attempted election administration dictates have been exposed. Just yesterday in Pelosi’s birthplace of Baltimore, Maryland, a story came out about how one of her top priorities, vote by mail, disenfranchises people:

Nearly 1 in 10 ballots could not be delivered to Baltimore City voters during the special election in April, raising concerns for the June 2 primary, which is also being conducted by mail.

The data, released by the Maryland Board of Elections late Tuesday, shows that 20,367 of the more than 230,500 ballots sent to Baltimore City voters could not be delivered before the April 28 special election. An additional 4,355 ballots were undeliverable to Baltimore County voters, while 3,886 were not delivered to Howard County voters — about 3% of all ballots in those two jurisdictions. . . .

An additional 660 were not counted because they lacked a signature.

Republicans want elections to be open, fair and honest.  Democrats see politics as an issue to incite their base.  When House Republicans had control of Congress in 2017-18 they made their top legislative priority tax reform for all Americans.  In contrast, Democrats made protecting incumbent Democrat members of Congress their top legislative priority through trying to change election laws.  Historically election reforms have passed on an bipartisan basis but the Democrats' HR 1 did not get a single Republican vote. 

Now their narrative on election law is falling apart.  Democrats have long bemoaned the role of money in politics.  They have said that billionaires buy elections.  Yet, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton despite being badly outspent.  But that example pales in comparison to the recent Democrat primary.  As the Wall Street Journal editorializes:

So much for the progressive meme about “buying elections.” Federal disclosures Monday finally revealed the full bill for Mike Bloomberg’s Democratic primary bid: more than $1 billion, for hardly three months of official campaigning. For comparison, that’s more than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton spent during the whole of the 2016 race.

Shame on you, Speaker Pelosi.  At a time when Americans were coming together, she blew up the bipartisan coronavirus relief package for her legislative desires. 

Senate spends all weekend negotiating a bipartisan deal. Agreement reached. Pelosi flies in from California, whips out her unrelated “wishlist,” and says no. Senate Democrats then vote against proceeding on a bill they negotiated.

Jaw dropping.

— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) March 22, 2020

The novel coronavirus is threatening to disrupt elections along with schools, events, travel, grocery shopping, and every other aspect of our lives outside the front door.  Three states are proceeding with their presidential primaries tomorrow, with extra precautions for everyone's health, and Georgia and Louisiana have both postponed their primaries that were originally scheduled for later this month. 

As NBC reported last night:

The number of early votes cast in the Democratic primaries for Super Tuesday contests is 4 million, according to figures as of Monday provided by TargetSmart, the National Election Poll and state secretaries of state, which were analyzed independently by NBC News.

The total includes 1.6 million in California, where 415 delegates are at stake, or 30 percent of the Super Tuesday total.

Many of those voters, however, cast their ballots before three of the candidates withdrew: Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer. That led to frustration on the part of some of their supporters on Monday and Tuesday when they learned that their early votes had been wasted on candidates who were no longer in the race. (In almost all states, an early vote is final once it is cast.)

A major piece of news happened yesterday, or at least it should be news.  Foreign actors have changed ZERO votes on American voting machines.  The Committee on House Administration held a hearing entitled: 2020 Election Security-Perspectives From Voting System Vendors and Experts.  In a panel of the three manufacturers of virtually all the voting machines in the United States, the following exchange happened (emphasis added):

Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL):  To your knowledge, has a foreign state ever successfully breached or hacked your vote tallying election machines?

Mr. Tom Burt, President and CEO, Election Systems & Software, Omaha, NE: No

Mr. John Poulos, President and CEO, Dominion Voting Systems, Denver, CO: No

Ms. Julie Mathis, President and CEO, Hart InterCivic, Austin, TX: No

We continue our Top 10 Blog posts for 2019.  Numbers 6-10 are here.  

5. February 7: SENATE JUDICIARY ADVANCES AG NOMINEE BARR AND 44 JUDICIAL NOMINEES

Senate Judiciary Dems playing an awkward game of praising Bill Barr's character and competence while saying why they're voting against him, which boils down to Pres. Trump, with some background of unitary executive theory.