WASHINGTON – A bipartisan majority of
senators thwarted Democrats’ scheme to permanently destroy centuries-old Senate
rules to advance a federal takeover of state election laws. The rule requiring
60 votes to end debate fosters compromise and bipartisanship, ensuring all
senators, regardless of party, can participate in the legislative process. The
election takeover effort has long been a liberal policy priority that would
force states to abandon popular election safeguards.
“Iowans at my 99 county meetings often share their frustration about the
partisanship in Washington. They want to see us work together on meaningful,
commonsense solutions. That’s exactly
what the Senate’s 60 vote rules are designed to promote: thorough debate and
collaboration where all points of view are heard and amendments are considered.
Eliminating such a rule to force a partisan federal takeover of state election
authorities enshrined in our Constitution turns the ‘World’s Greatest
Deliberative Body’ on its head and guarantees a more partisan, divisive
environment in the future. I’m pleased that cooler heads prevailed and
Democrats were prevented from deploying this ‘nuclear option,’” Grassley
said.
The Nuclear Option
Efforts to reduce the Senate’s threshold to cut off debate from the
current 60 votes to a simple majority by establishing a precedent to ignore a
rule without actually amending the rules is such a controversial procedure that
it’s often referred to as the “nuclear option” because it would empower future
majorities to ignore any rule and thus carries lasting consequences that
eventually harm all members from both political parties.
Sen. Grassley has consistently warned of the perils of deploying the
nuclear option,
correctly predicted the
fallout from rules changes and
resisted changes even when his own political
party would have immediately benefited.
The Election Takeover
Despite several conservative states adopting new election laws that
grant greater flexibility than many liberal states like New York and President
Biden’s home state of Delaware, and despite record turnout in recent elections
that resulted in victories for both political parties, Democrats continue to
falsely claim that democracy is in crisis. President Biden even
suggested that future elections
should be called into question if the partisan election takeover is
unsuccessful.
This
document debunks some of the most egregious myths being peddled by
Democrats to justify their election takeover.
Their partisan proposal would have superseded many popular state laws
that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. Among other provisions the bill
includes:
- Undermines most current
state voter ID laws – replaces state voter ID
laws with a federal voter ID standard that would require states to accept
essentially any document that includes a person’s name. Iowa sends a free voter
ID to any voter that does not already have a driver’s license.
- Automatic Voter Registration – requires
state departments of motor vehicles to register voters unless the state opts
out. The Motor Voter Law already requires giving the option to register to
everyone who goes to the DMV so this would automatically register people who
opted not to register previously. States
that have this have accidentally registered a lot of non-citizens.
- Mandates the use of
ballot drop-boxes – requires states to
provide drop-boxes while not providing any security or chain of custody
requirements. Drop-boxes were not thought necessary until an irresponsible
conspiracy theory was floated casting doubt on voting by mail and impugning the
integrity of the Postal Service. Iowa requires a secure drop box at every
county auditor and allows for no-excuse absentee voting by mail with barcodes
on envelopes that expedite their delivery and allow Iowans to track their
ballot online.
- Federalizes
Redistricting – federalizes the rules for
redistricting by requiring that states adhere to federal redistricting
standards subject to enforcement actions by the attorney general. This could
force Iowa to change its respected nonpartisan redistricting process.
- Provides government
funding for campaigns – provides public financing
in the form of both a 6:1 federal match for small donations to candidates for
the House of Representatives, and a “Democracy Credit” program in which people
can request a $25 credit they can donate to one or more candidates for the
House of Representatives. The candidates will then be paid by the participating
state, and the state will be reimbursed by the federal government. State
participation is voluntary, but the Federal Election Commission is required to
set up the program using federal dollars for any state that chooses to
participate. This means that federal dollars will still be going to candidates
who citizens may not support.
- Requires felon voting – requires
states to give felons the right to vote once they’re out of prison.
- Chills free speech – contains burdensome speech-chilling
disclosure requirements, including disclosure of donors to nonprofit groups
that express views on candidates but do not give campaign contributions.
- Turns the FEC General Counsel into the speech czar – allows the unelected, unconfirmed Federal Elections Commission
General Counsel to make decisions for the FEC such as when to investigate and
what penalties will be assessed unless four commissioners vote to overturn the GC’s
decision within 30 days.
- Creates a presidential slush fund for activities that “promote democracy” – another example of Democrats using taxpayer dollars for elections.
- Makes Election Day a federal holiday –
grants federal employees an additional taxpayer-funded paid holiday, yet most
Iowans don’t get federal holidays off. Voting
in person in Iowa is fast and efficient, and voters can also vote absentee or
early.