Dem Duo Deem to Destroy Democracy

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have teamed up to introduce H.R. 1 and S. 1 in their respective houses. By assigning them these bill numbers the chambers’ leaders are designating them as the most important measures to come before the Congress this session.

In fact the provisions of these bills would fundamentally alter our democracy and go a long way toward ensuring that we never have another fair election and the Democrats always win. There is no threat to our democracy more important than this bill and we must mobilize all our resources to defeat it.

Here are the provisions of this pernicious bill:

1. Same-day voter registration allowing people to register to vote on election day. In practice, this would mean that there will be no such thing as voter registration. Anyone who show up at the polls, registers, and asks for a ballot can vote. Coupled with a ban on photo identification, it opens the door wide to truly massive voter fraud.

2. Automatic voter registration so anyone who gives their information to the state, whether to get a drivers license or for some other reason, is automatically enrolled as a voter regardless of their eligibility. No residence requirements or need to prove citizenship.

3. Online and electronic voter registration so that people do not need to come into the election office in person to register but can do so from home, eliminating any opportunity to verify identity or citizenship prior to registering to vote. So voters will be able to register online and vote by mail, creating a class of phantom voters who nobody has ever seen or examined.

4. Pre-registration of 16 and 17-year-olds would permit children age 16 and 17 to pre-register to vote. Upon reaching 18, they would automatically become fully registered.

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5. Make the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) a partisan institution. Currently the FEC has six members and the statute requires there be three from each party. HR 1 would make the FEC a five member commission, two from each party with no partisan restriction on who the fifth member can be. So, through presidential appointment, the FEC would become a fully partisan umpire of elections

6. Require that felons be permitted to vote. A University of Georgia study estimates that 19 million Americans have been convicted of felonies. In many states, they are not permitted to vote even after they have served their prison terms. HR 1 would require that they be allowed to vote adding millions of likely Democratic voters to the electorate.

7. Eliminate partisan redistricting. H.R. 1 would requires states to draw legislative districts through non-partisan commissions appointed by the legislature and the governor consisting of a certain number from each party and the balance from the general public

8. Preserve minority voting power in redistricting would ban reapportionment plans that dilute minority representation.

9. Restrict efforts to purge voter rolls of dead or moved-away voters. HR 1 would put needless obstacles in the way of efforts to purge the voting roles of those were ineligible either because they have died or moved away. Judicial Watch has estimated that there are 378 counties that have more voter registrations than people living there, accounting for 2.5 million ineligible voters. HR1 would make it very hard to purge these phantom voters.

10. Require states to allow early voting for 15 days. H.R. 1 also includes some important campaign finance law changes, which I largely support. It would force the revelation of the names of donors to dark money PACs, a reform that is long overdue and enact a 6 to 1 cash match from federal funds for small campaign contributions magnifying the power of small donors.

H.R. 1 would also express the opinion of Congress that the District of Columbia should become the 51st state, something Congress can do by simple majority anytime it wishes.

Taken together, these provisions amount to a serious assault on our democracy.

It would be one thing if these legislative changes came after an election that reflected a sweeping national consensus or mandate for change, but coming on the heels of one of the closest and most litigated elections in history, it amounts to a gross usurpation.

The Democrats propose to use the hotly disputed results of the 2020 presidential election, a paper-thin Democratic margin in the Senate, and a five seat majority in the House which comes after the Democrats lost nine seats, to rejigger the system to fix elections in perpetuity.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Dick Morris, who served as adviser to former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former President Clinton, is the author of 16 books, including his latest, Screwed and Here Come the Black Helicopters.