I take electrons in hand to argue that one should vocally and vigorously oppose S.1, which is anything but “For the People.” Quite to the contrary, it is a bill which means to usher in a one-party state, conceived out of lust for a permanent grip on power and brought forth on half-truths about “voter suppression” and “convenience.” Not only has it the bad odor of tyranny about it, it is both dishonest and provocative.
Since the text of S.1 is not yet available on “Congress.gov,” I base my comments on its analog, H.1. This bill may pass constitutional muster respecting Congressional elections due to the language of Article 1, Sec. 4.1, but it is very probably unconstitutional regarding Presidential elections, left entirely to the states to organize in Article 2, Section 1.2 of the document – not that being constitutional is much of a consideration anymore.
As you know if you have plowed through the over eight hundred pages of that bill, it prohibits states from actively and effectively cleaning their voter rolls (Sec 1041 and 2502), which will become suspect since officials are required to automatically enroll “individuals,” not “citizens” based on lists from other state agencies where citizenship is not always a question (Sec 1012). The throwaway modifier “eligible” is useless, since a simple affirmation of eligibility is all that is required. H.1 mandates universal unsolicited mailing of ballots and their collection through ballot harvesting, previously illegal for good reasons. It restricts states from simple and commonsense means to establish the identity of potential voters, thereby opening the electoral process to potential large-scale fraud (Sec 1004).
A simple attestation that one is allowed to vote and a “substantially completed” application is no replacement for a photo ID which, despite Progressive whining is not difficult to obtain. To insist that it is beyond the means of many is to say that these supposed victims of oppression are either so ignorant or inert as to be unable to obtain anything other than that which is placed into an outstretched hand. It is an insult born of contempt, not a sympathy born of a sense of common humanity. See the lie repeated in Section 1011.
Similarly, this bill limits overview of the counting process and shields ballots received through any means from scrutiny necessary to settle suspicions of fraud. Although H.1 is a bill through which Washington, D.C. tells the rest of America in great detail how to conduct its electoral affairs, in the question of suspect ballots there must be “clear and convincing evidence as determined in accordance with the applicable standards in the jurisdiction involved” for ballots to be judged inadmissible (Sec 1502 [a]2). So Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Chicago and other notorious Democrat machine cities can breathe easy. And there is much more.
This bill is, in short, an open invitation to perpetrate ongoing, massive fraud on the electoral systems of the Republic, and on the several states. I will not speculate on the reasons for trying to legislate away electoral protections, but it is suggestive that this is the first bill A Democrat-controlled Congress chose to try to pass. And the suggestion is not a good one.
I have been an election observer in several countries outside the United States; as such, I can tell you what you already know: proper self-government requires elections not only to be transparent, free, open and fair; they must be seen as such, and not just by allies of the political class and party stenographic pools masquerading as media outlets as one finds in, say, Belarus. If they are not, many citizens will no longer think the government serves them, so they won’t support it willingly, no matter how great the need. Around the world, much of the energy of governments installed through such questionable elections is spent on suppressing a sullen, uncooperative and unquiet public. The United States is far from immune to this sort of thing; to the contrary, we are already well-along that road.
Don’t make it worse. Contact your senators and tell them: Toss H.1/S.1 in the dustbin of history. Before it does the same to us.
