While the 117th Congress House Resolution 1 ‘For the People’ is awaiting a vote in the Senate, the Voter Integrity Project of Look Ahead America (LAA) has released a comprehensive state-by-state report of "attempts to pass dangerous elements of HR1 through state legislatures."
UncoverDC wrote about H.R.1 in March, and now Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he will bring the bill up for voting later this month, but West Virginia Senator, Joe Manchin, has expressed vocal opposition, making passage questionable. The bill has wide implications and would affect all three branches of the federal government, including election law.
It was called "clean elections reform" by Democrat sponsor John Sarbanes and summarized as a bill that would "expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy."
Republican Senator Ted Cruz wrote:
"They wrote it to expand voter fraud and try to ensure that they’ll never lose again. The bill mandates registering nearly everyone in the country to vote, regardless of their eligibility, prevents states from maintaining the integrity of their voting rolls or removing dead people, and requires that felons be allowed to vote."
He went on to summarize other aims of the wide-ranging bill by saying:
"The bill requires states to allow universal, no-excuse mail-in voting... states can’t require IDs to vote, and the bill makes it nearly impossible to challenge signature matches without the agreement of a Democrat. Moreover, it allows Democratic operatives to collect and submit unlimited ballots—opening the door to widespread fraud—and requires counting these ballots even if they arrive 10 days after Election Day."
Matt Braynard, Executive Director of LAA, wrote in an email to subscribers,
"You may have thought HR1 was dead, but let us assure you, it is not. Progressives have broken the federal legislation up into components that they are trying to sneak through state legislatures. Our research group has documented this conspiracy."
Calling the report and the effort to reintroduce parts of H.R. 1 through the state legislatures "The Hidden Agenda," the May 28 report analyzed 1,144 pieces of legislation to find what "seemed like H.R. 1 introduced in almost every state," with Texas and New York having the most. The report then lists every bit by state and bill number, with links to the state government website where they can be found.
The report does not specify what portions of the H.R. 1 legislation are included in each bill specifically but does provide a readable description of a few words for each such as, "Automatic Registration," "Felons Voting," "Weakened Voter ID," and "Drop Boxes." On the report's summary page at the LAA website, notable examples are given.
HB2864 in West Virginia would allow felons to vote, while 16-year-olds in Texas could vote if SB1899 is passed. H788 in Massachusetts mandates voting by all citizens, with a $15 fine for failure to comply (LAA's page lists 765, which is actually a separate bill related to H.R. 1 – type initiatives.) Connecticut, which is not mentioned on LAA's summary page, also has similar legislation that imposes a fine for not voting.
LAA's analysis concludes with a statement that says:
"We believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant," and requests that supporters contact state representatives and senators about the bills.
LAA was formed in response to the 2020 elections and has focused on election integrity. UncoverDC has previously reported on LAA and we will continue to cover their ongoing efforts.
