What would it look like if the entire United States was governed by a one-party system like California? We may find out in the near future.
The Orwellian “For the People Act” (H.R.1) – which passed with only Democrat support in the U.S. House of Representatives and will now be voted on in the U.S. Senate – is 791 pages of what authoritarians dream about.
Circumventing the post-2020 push for election reform, the Act, H.R. 1, strips the states of their Constitutional authority to prescribe the manner of their federal elections and claims the authority for Congress. It further states that only federal courts in Washington, DC have jurisdiction to hear challenges to the Act.
Under the guise of enforcing campaign finance laws, H.R. 1 also chills and burdens the free speech of advocacy groups.
It requires non-profits, like Life Legal, to file a report with the Federal Election Commission whenever we mention a politician’s name by classing our communications with you as “electioneering.” All advertisements, including Facebook ads*, that mention a candidate in connection with any policy issue such as abortion, will now have to be reported as campaign contributions. The burden of filing reports will hamper many non-profits’ ability to inform their supporters of important pending legislation.
H.R. 1 authorizes the IRS to consider the political positions of an organization before granting non-profit status, enabling the IRS to punish disfavored speech.
It requires certain non-profits to disclose donors and donations – potentially subjecting the donors to harassment.
Additionally, the Act:
- Prohibits states from requiring voter ID
- Mandates that states allow mail-in voting, at least two weeks of early voting, and same-day voter registration
- Mandates that states register everyone to vote, including people who are not even eligible to vote, such as convicted felons and 16 year-olds
- Prohibits prosecution of non-citizens for registering to vote
- Restricts the criteria states may use to purge ineligible voters from the voter rolls
- Mandates that ballots be accepted for at least ten days after election day
- Permits ballot harvesting
- Mandates that election officials destroy paper ballots that could be audited
- And on and on. This is only a partial list.
The Act also limits and regulates election spending – which in turn limits and regulates election debate and the exchange of ideas, while leaving the mainstream media free to promote their favorite candidates without limit.
Please call your Senators today and urge them to vote no on the so-called “For the People Act.” You may call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators’ offices or you can find their office information here.