Peach Tree Times

A federal voter reform bill will have a "massive impact" on the ability of states, including Georgia, to police their own elections, according to one conservative opponent of the stalled legislation.

House Resolution 1, passed by the U.S. House, failed to move to a vote in the Senate. Attempts to revive it, or something similar, however, are likely, said Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the election law reform initiative at the conservative leaning Heritage Foundation.

Supporters describe the legislation as a way to "promote government transparency, strengthen access to the ballot box and make it easier for Americans to exercise their right to vote, secure election infrastructure, and curb the influence of dark money in politics."

Those opposed to the proposed legislation argue that it would usurp states' rights and powers.

Legislators "may either bring it up again or break it up into smaller bills to try to get it through in individual pieces," von Spakovsky told Peach Tree Times. "They are actively working on trying to push through their backup plan, which is House Resolution 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. HR 4 is just as bad as HR 1 in leading to a federal takeover of the administration of elections."

Republican-led legislatures have either proposed or passed what is promoted as "election integrity" bills that include restrictions on ballot drop boxes and mail-in voting, and the introduction of voter ID requirements. Georgia has passed Senate Bill 202. 

According to Empire State Today, Georgia’s SB 202 institutes a voter ID requirement, provides free voter ID, promotes ballot drop box security, forms stricter rules for absentee voting, expands access to early voting.

According to Heritage Action, SB 202 will require a driver’s license or a state ID, something that 97% of registered Georgia voters have. This requirement is highly popular in Georgia. According to an AJC poll in January, 74% of Georgia voters support it, including 63% of black voters, and 89% of those making less than $25,000 a year.

Opponents, mostly Democrats, argue that the bills follow what the many courts have found to be false allegations of fraud in the 2020 last election (mostly from former President Donald Trump and his supporters) and will curtail voting rights.

The impact HR 1 and HR 4 would have a on Georgia and other states "would be massive and extremely detrimental to the security and integrity of the election process," von Spakovsky argues.

"HR 1 would outlaw almost all of the basic security measures that states have in place to try to protect the integrity of elections," he wrote. "For example, it would outlaw state voter ID law, outlaw any requirement to have a witness signature on absentee ballots, override any state bans on vote harvesting of absentee ballots by third parties such as paid political operatives, and require states to implement same day, online and automatic registration."

Further, von Spakovsky said HR 4 "Would give hostile bureaucrats inside the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department the ability to veto state election rules and laws."

According to the Honest Elections Project, 64% of voters, including black (51%) and Hispanic (66%) voters, as well as urban (59%) and Independent (61%) voters, want to increase voting safeguards that mitigate fraud – not decrease them.

A March 2021 survey by pollster Rasmussen Reports found that 75% of likely U.S. voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote, and 21% are opposed to such a requirement. That's up from 67% in favor, per a Rasmussen poll in October. 2018.