Last Congress, the Democrats made it their top priority to radically transform our elections by taking election decisions away from the people and giving more power to bureaucrats. Their so-called For the People Act would utilize taxpayer money to fund campaigns, legalize ballot harvesting, weaponize the IRS for political gain, and automatically give felons the right to vote. This was a horrible bill that no serious elected official should ever support.
Congress should work to restore Americans’ faith in our elections, rather than impose dangerous big-government mandates on us.
Thankfully, the Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) has introduced the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, which is the most conservative election integrity bill to be seriously considered by the House in many, many years. I’m a proud cosponsor of this bill because I believe election integrity is one of the most pressing issues facing our country. We saw significant fraud in the 2020 election, and we have to make sure all our upcoming elections are secure, fair, and honest.
I’m committed to fighting for the commonsense idea of 1 person, 1 vote and only legal votes being counted.
The ACE Act does just that by equipping states with election integrity tools, implementing much-needed reforms in DC, and protecting political freedom of speech. Some examples of these election integrity tools include giving states access to the Social Security death list so voter rolls can be maintained, requiring a valid photo ID to vote, and ensuring only U.S. citizens can vote in U.S. elections.
This seems like a no-brainer, but Washington, D.C., and New York City currently allow non-residents, like embassy staff from countries like Russia and China, to vote after living in those cities for just one month. That’s ridiculous, and we must stop it.
It’s also extremely important we protect the right to freedom of speech. We’ve seen far too many cases of Americans – particularly conservatives – being unfairly harassed by the federal government simply because of their political beliefs. The ACE Act will permanently block any federal agency from forcibly getting access to information about anyone’s voting habits and/or campaign contributions. This protects your right to vote for whomever you like and contribute to whomever you like without worrying about being unfairly targeted by agency such as the IRS.
Americans deserve to have confidence in our elections and know that our elections are secure, fair, and done according to the law. Congress has a real opportunity to restore that confidence, and I will be part of the fight every step of the way because without free and fair elections, our Republic cannot survive.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
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