House GOP takes new tack in advancing conservative election bills:
With larger package in limbo, Republicans break out smaller proposals aimed at noncitizens
Government funding deadlines and a chaotic stint without a speaker derailed House Republicans’ plans to push through a sprawling election overhaul package earlier this year. But this week, GOP members unveiled a pared-down strategy to move voting legislation.
The House Administration Committee in a Thursday markup reported favorably an octet of bills — a couple of which had bipartisan support, but most of which highlighted long-standing cross-party tensions on election-related issues. The most contentious of the bunch seek to make sure that noncitizens can’t vote in federal or D.C. elections.
The markup came more than four months after the committee advanced the American Confidence in Elections Act, a package of roughly 50 bills that has so far not gotten a vote on the floor and has a remote chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The new strategy is not an acknowledgment of defeat as much as it is a pragmatic attempt to spur legislative action on the cusp of a presidential election year, according to House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll still be able to see the floor [on the ACE Act] in the near future. Obviously we lost in time during October, but hopefully as we get ourselves back up and running, that bill will have the opportunity to fight for time,” the Wisconsin Republican said ahead of the markup. “In addition to that, what we’re doing is a series of bills, many of which are components of the ACE Act, in a stand-alone manner.”
ACE refers to the Republicans’ title for the package: the American Confidence in Elections Act.
“I think some of these bills are a real opportunity to fix the issue of noncitizen voting and foreign interference, but also an opportunity to have smaller pieces of legislation which may have an easier path to get across and signed into law,” Steil continued.
House Administration Republicans and Democrats did find some common ground on Thursday. On bipartisan votes, the committee advanced legislation to protect election observer access and to protect against the influence of foreign nationals in elections, a legislative recommendation made by the bipartisan Federal Election Commission.
But the normal partisan cracks emerged on other legislation, including proposals that would allow states to require proof of citizenship to vote by mail, that would override a D.C. law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections, and that would require the secretary of Homeland Security and the commissioner of Social Security to provide states with information on the citizenship status of prospective voters. --->READ MORE HERE
House Panel Moves to Stop Noncitizen Voting, Foreign Funding of US Referendums:
House Republicans have advanced measures to prevent noncitizen voting and curb foreign influence in American elections, with some even gaining bipartisan backing.
The House Administration Committee on Thursday sent eight election-related bills to the full House for consideration, most of which still face an uncertain future. The measures now move to the House floor, but the bills face uncertain futures.
House Administration Committee Chairman Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said the bills bring the United States “one step closer to blocking election insecurities.”
“From preventing federal funds from going to states that allow noncitizens to vote, to blocking the Biden administration’s attempts to weaponize our federal agencies,” Steil said in a public statement after the committee meeting. “Each measure we passed today will increase voters’ confidence and ultimately lead to greater participation at the ballot box.”
The No Vote for Non-Citizens Act was reported out of committee on a bipartisan vote of 8-2. The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, better known as “the Motor Voter law,” and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that only eligible American citizens may participate in federal elections.
This measure, sponsored by Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., requires localities that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections to print separate voter lists and separate ballots from any federal elections.
Another bill repeals the recently passed District of Columbia law to allow noncitizens to vote in D.C. elections. While Washington, D.C., has limited home rule, it is still subject to Congress as nation’s capital. The committee approved the bill by Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., on a partisan 6-3 vote.
The D.C. law gives noncitizens who are at least 18 years old and have resided in the District for 30 days or more the right to vote in any D.C. elections for mayor, city council and other local offices.
“Allowing noncitizens, like [foreign] embassy staff, to vote in D.C. elections is inappropriate and contrary to our system of democracy,” Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., said during the committee meeting. --->READ MORE HERE
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