House Republicans recently introduced legislation aimed at securing elections in the U.S.
The bill will be introduced in Atlanta, Georgia, as chosen by the House Administration Committee, which went with Georgia as the starting point because of the state’s 2021 voting law which added additional Identification for mail-in ballots, limited ballot drop boxes, and banned poll watchers from bringing food and beverages to voters waiting in lines.
Georgia’s 2021 legislation led to controversy across the U.S. and prompted a lawsuit from the Department of Justice. Major League Baseball (MLB) even moved its all-star game out of the state to Colorado.
Individuals who opposed the Georgia law claimed it would make the voting process more difficult and “disenfranchise” Black Americans. House Administration Committee Chair Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) recently touched on the Georgia 2021 law, calling such opposing claims false and pointing out that voter turnout increased after the bill’s passing.
Steil also said the proposed voting legislation, the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, is the “most substantive and conservative election integrity legislation that will come before the House in over a generation.”
I’m in Atlanta, GA introducing the most conservative election integrity bill in over 20 years. Watch our hearing on the ACE Act starting soon! https://t.co/irDBIJQum7 pic.twitter.com/1Bblx7Vw8A
— Bryan Steil (@RepBryanSteil) July 10, 2023
The proposed House GOP bill would change federal law to help states with election administrations, including forcing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide states access to voter data for free, allowing states to remove non-citizens and deceased individuals from voter rolls.
The legislation would reform the REAL ID Act requiring that individuals’ citizenship status be printed on their identification documents so that it can be verified before voting.
House Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) criticized the 2021 Georgia voting law, arguing that Republicans are using it as a model because it was only enacted since former President Donald Trump lost the state of Georgia in the 2020 election.
“The Big Lie origins of SB 202 mirror the Big Lie origins of the majority’s ACE Act. And the damaging effects of SB 202 on Georgia voters will be imposed upon all Americans if the ACE Act is enacted nationally,” Morelle said.
Although Republicans control the House, it’s unlikely their voting legislation will pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently said that Senate Democrats would not allow the legislation to pass.
