Congressional Democrats who failed in a late-night attempt earlier this month to impose federal control over elections are now pushing a new, more radical version of the proposal.
Under the unanimous consent process, a bill is considered approved by the full Senate without a recorded vote, unless at least one senator objects, as Cruz did at 4 a.m. during the Aug. 11 Senate session.
The Lewis proposal includes major provisions of HR1—expanding mail-in voting, legalizing vote harvesting, providing federal tax dollars to congressional campaigns, and banning voter ID requirements — while also adding provisions negating two important Supreme Court election law decisions.
The Democrats’ HR4 amends the VRA to enable the DOJ to consider a lengthy list of highly subjective factors to justify nullifying a state or local election law or procedure.
One of the factors provides that the DOJ can justify such a nullification based on “the extent to which minority group members bear the effects of discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and health, which hinder their ability to participate effectively in the political process.”
Another of the factors provides grounds for nullification if DOJ officials believe “there is a lack of responsiveness on the part of elected officials to the particularized needs of minority group members.”
The VRA applied to nine southern states formerly belonging to the Confederacy, as well as parts of six other states, but all 50 states could be covered by the provisions of HR4 if it becomes law. President Joe Biden has said he'll sign the measure if it makes it to his desk.
But there’s substantial opposition to HR4 both within and outside of Congress.
“All of these changes would give the liberal ideologues who populate the career lawyer ranks inside DOJ carte blanche to go after any election change that they don’t like from a policy point of view, not because it is in any way discriminatory. This is a terrible bill and extremely dangerous,” Hans von Spakovsky told The Epoch Times on Aug. 18.
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Administration, which has authority on federal election processes, called HR4 congressional Democrats’ “backdoor attempt at nationalizing our elections to ensure their party remains in power for years to come.”
“The whole thing operates on the unspoken assumption that voting for minorities has become worse today than it was in 1965,” said Cuccinelli, who was Virginia’s Attorney General prior to the 2013 Shelby County decision.
Cuccinelli participated in the pre-clearance process established by the VRA, which enabled certain jurisdictions to receive approval from the DOJ for any changes to election law.
“That’s the underlying assumption of the bill and it’s patently false, and thank God that it is. We should be proud of the progress. It’s literally never been easier to vote or register to vote, regardless of where you live in America,” he said.
“Basically, you don’t even have to be adjudicated as having tried to harm a citizen’s right to vote: You just have to have a certain number of lawsuits filed against you,” Bess told The Epoch Times.
“If a number of lawsuits are filed against you, that can be a basis for DOJ putting your jurisdiction into pre-clearance. They don’t even have to go through the whole process, they just have to be lodged, it’s just unbelievable.”