Win Or Lose, Democrats’ Answer Is Always A Washington Election Takeover

Democrats Are Still Demanding Passage Of Their Expensive, Unnecessary Plan Requiring A Washington Takeover Of Elections

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) hold a teleconference call to urge the passage of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, at 1 p.m.” (“The Lame Duck Begins,” Politico’s Huddle, 11/16/2020)

‘More Americans Voted In The 2020 Election Than In Any Other In More Than 100 Years’ And Voter Turnout Neared 65%

“More Americans voted in the 2020 election than in any other in more than 100 years. Nearly 65 percent of the voting-eligible population cast a ballot — a figure that will increase as more votes are tabulated. The figures have shattered previous highs, including in 2008 when Barack Obama defeated John McCain, and in 1960 when John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon.” (“2020 Turnout Is The Highest In Over A Century,” The Washington Post, 11/05/2020)

• “The projection for where this turnout could end up is based on estimates of how many votes are still to be counted, from The Post’s own modeling and that of Edison Research. If this projection holds, 2020 turnout will be the highest since 1900, when 73.7 percent of eligible Americans cast ballots.” (“2020 Turnout Is The Highest In Over A Century,” The Washington Post, 11/05/2020)

And $14 Billion Was Spent On Candidates And PACs This Election, But Democrats Seem To Want To Use Taxpayer Money To Spend EVEN MORE

“The total cost of the 2020 election will nearly reach an unprecedented $14 billion, making it the most expensive election in history and twice as expensive as the previous presidential election cycle. That’s according to an estimate from the Center for Responsive Politics.” (“2020 Election To Cost $14 Billion, Blowing Away Spending Records,” OpenSecrets.org, 10/28/2020)

“Both parties raised more than ever from small donors, but Democrats came out on top. Democrats have raised nearly $1.7 billion from bite-sized donors, compared to $1 billion for Republicans. Overall, small donors account for 22 percent of the money raised in the 2020 cycle, a high water mark. These individual donors giving $200 or less only accounted for 15 percent of money raised in the 2016 election.” (“2020 Election To Cost $14 Billion, Blowing Away Spending Records,” OpenSecrets.org, 10/28/2020)

“The small-donor matching system in HR 1 creates a 6-to-1 public match for every dollar raised in small-dollar contributions (under $200). No doubt, this will cost some money. A reasonable estimate might be about $3 billion over 10 years… but a lot will depend on how widely it gets used.” (Vox, 1/14/2019)

REMINDER: Democrats Are Mainly Interested In Using Election ‘Reform’ Legislation As A Trojan Horse To Consolidate Power In Washington And Tilt Election Rules In Their Favor

SEN. McCONNELL: “H.R. 1, House Democrats’ marquee bill for the new Congress … really adds up to one big, expensive partisan power grab. An effort to centralize more control over Americans’ speech and Americans’ voting here in Washington D.C…. Decision after decision that our Constitution properly leaves to the states just melts away in this proposal. Practically every variable of any consequence to American elections gets a top-down mandate, written by Democrats…. How many days of early voting should there be? Do polls need to be open on Sundays? What’s the best way to make absentee ballots available? When can early voting take place, and for how long? And where should those polling places be located? Different states and communities have come to different, legitimate judgments on all these questions. It’s a core part of our constitutional system. And the decentralization of our electoral process leads to a more democratic system — with more direct impact on the elections of those decisionmakers.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 1/31/2019)

House Democrats Agree That Removing Election Control From States And Giving It To Washington, D.C. Is ‘Really What This Bill [H.R.1] Is About’

SEN. McCONNELL: “Perhaps most worrisome of all is the unprecedented proposal to federalize our nation’s elections, giving Washington D.C. politicians even more control over who gets to come here in the first place. Hundreds of pages are dedicated to telling states how to run their elections, from when and where they must take place, to the procedures they have to follow, to the machines they have to use.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 1/29/2019)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA), House Administration Committee Chair: “I would just note that I understand the gentleman’s objection to federalizing federal election eligibility, but that’s really what this bill is about.” (U.S. House of Representatives Administration Committee, Markup, 2/26/2019)

There Had Previously Been Bipartisan Agreement That ‘States Should Be Firmly In The Lead For Running Elections’

BIPARTISAN SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE REPORT: “DHS and other federal government entities remain respectful of the limits of federal involvement in state election systems. States should be firmly in the lead for running elections. The country’s decentralized election system can be a strength from a cybersecurity perspective, but each operator should be keenly aware of the limitations of their cybersecurity capabilities and know how to quickly and properly obtain assistance.” (Report Of The Select Committee On Intelligence, United States Senate, On Russian Active Measures Campaigns And Interference In The 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 1: Russian Efforts Against Election Infrastructure With Additional Views, 7/25/2019)

ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL BARR, FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY, ACTING HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY CHAD WOLF, ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE JOSEPH MAGUIRE, AND CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER KREBS: “The states’ autonomy over elections makes our elections more resilient. The diversity of election systems among the states, multiple checks and redundancies in those systems, and post-election auditing all make it extraordinarily difficult for foreign adversaries to disrupt or change vote tallies.” (William Barr, Christopher Wray, Chad Wolf, Joseph Maguire, and Christopher Krebs, Op-Ed, “Help Us Protect The 2020 Elections And Your Vote,” USA Today, 2/19/2020)

Back In 2016, Even Nancy Pelosi And Harry Reid Said They ‘Would Oppose Any Effort By The Federal Government To Exercise Any Degree Of Control Over The States’ Administration Of Elections’

HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN (R-WI), LEADER McCONNELL, HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), AND SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER HARRY REID (D-NV): “[T]he Department of Homeland Security stands ready to provide cybersecurity assistance to those states that choose to request it. Such assistance does not entail federal regulation or binding federal directives of any kind, and we would oppose any effort by the federal government to exercise any degree of control over the states’ administration of elections by designating these systems as critical infrastructure.” (Speaker Ryan, Rep. Pelosi, Sens. McConnell and Reid, Letter to Todd Valentine, President, National Association of State Election Directors, 9/28/2016)