House Republicans Unveil Sweeping Election Integrity Bill

The Republican effort to enhance election security took a significant step forward Monday with new legislation introduced in the House of Representatives. Unveiled in Atlanta, the bill was accompanied by a strong warning from GOP leaders.

Five Republican representatives held a press conference to introduce the American Confidence in Elections Act (ACE). The members of the Committee on House Administration promoted the bill as needed to protect elections and restore voter confidence.

The Georgia location was hardly chosen randomly. The new bill is modeled after popular election integrity legislation enacted in the Peach State in 2021 that drew widespread condemnation from Democrats.

The uproar from leftists was so strong that Major League Baseball pulled its All-Star Game from Atlanta that was to be held that summer.

Among the measure’s reasonable provisions are the requirement for a photo ID to be produced to vote in a federal election. Non-citizens are barred from voting, and voter rolls are to be maintained yearly.

Election officials are also prohibited from mailing unsolicited ballots to addresses on rolls that have not been maintained. These are obviously not draconian edicts intended to rip away the right to vote from American citizens. 

Committee chairman Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) explained that the ACE Act will make voting easy but at the same time make it “hard to cheat.” He touted the practice of using federal dollars to assist states in removing voters from rolls when they die.

He called the act “simple” and “commonsense legislation” designed to be an approach that Americans can unite behind.

Steil added that there will be attacks on the legislation from those with a vested interest in insecure elections. They will come even though Georgia’s law had exactly the opposite effect on voter turnout.

How much so? The 2022 midterm elections saw record voting numbers across the state. Despite Democratic criticism, Georgians somehow navigated the new law to cast their ballots as they wished.

Another legislator, Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), said the measure incentivizes other states to follow Georgia’s lead in enhancing election integrity. Undoubtedly they would face the same irrational criticism that poured onto Georgia two years ago.

Leftist Democrats called the new election law “racist” and said it worked to suppress voter turnout, particularly in minority communities. President Joe Biden called it “Jim Crow 2.0,” and others declared it “a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie.”