The U.S. Senate will take up a major federal election-takeover bill that combines previous pro-fraud legislation pushed by the far Left.
H.R. 5746, titled the “Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act,” is pending in the U.S. Senate. Originally introduced as an unrelated NASA bill, it was amended by the House of Representatives into its current version, with the House voting 220-203 on Thursday in favor of the amended bill.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that the Senate will begin debate on H.R. 5746 — leading to a vote — on Tuesday, January 18. The Senate had originally scheduled a recess that week, but it will now be delayed until after the vote.
As the bill title of H.R. 5746 implies, it combines two separate anti-integrity election bills that congressional Democrats have tried, but failed, to pass thus far. These are the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4/S. 4).
H.R. 5746 would decimate election integrity and inhibit Americans from achieving free elections. Being a combination of two bills that are destructive simply by themselves, it would be especially harmful to the United States and its republican form of government.
Among H.R. 5746’s provisions copied from the “Freedom to Vote Act,” it would:
- force each state to provide automatic voter registration for everyone with a driver’s license;
- mandate that states provide online voter registration;
- require states to provide same-day voter registration;
- force states to provide at least 15 consecutive days of early voting, including two weekends;
- make vote-by-mail and ballot drop boxes nationwide policies;
- weakens states’ ability to clean up voter rolls (despite Senator Klobuchar’s press release claiming otherwise);
- expands “voting access” to “underserved communities,” which likely vote primarily for the Democrat Party; and
- unconstitutionally limits state legislatures from redrawing congressional districts as they see fit.
Among H.R. 5746’s provisions copied from the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, it would:
- reestablish a “preclearance” process that forces the states to gain permission from the U.S. Department of Justice before implementing any changes in their election laws. This “preclearance” process would be even broader and more draconian than what existed under the 1965 Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court struck it down in 2013.
- change Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, making it easier for left-wing activists and the federal government to take legal action against state election laws on the basis of “racism.”
- require states to fully pay for polling places on Indian reservations, despite the federal government’s use of these reservations to assault freedom and subvert state sovereignty.
All of these provisions are unconstitutional, violating Article I, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, along with the 10th Amendment. Furthermore, these provisions would give the federal government — particularly executive-branch bureaucrats — unprecedented control over state and local elections.
Thankfully for election-integrity reformers, Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) both reiterated their opposition to changing or abolishing the filibuster on Thursday, making the likelihood of H.R. 5746 passing slim. Nonetheless, the fact that such a blatantly unconstitutional and anti-integrity bill is being seriously considered in the first place illustrates the low regard many American political leaders have for the Constitution.
The U.S. Senate would be wise to reject H.R. 5746 and any other bill that undermines election integrity. Rather than enacting legislation such as this, it should only support legislation that adheres to the U.S. Constitution while also strengthening the integrity of American elections.
To urge your U.S. senators to reject the radical and unconstitutional “Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act,” visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here.
