A Republican senator introduced a bill on Tuesday banning ballot-harvesting, citing “the debacle of the 2020 election.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said his bill would ban all ballot-harvesting in federal elections and provide incentives for states to ditch the practice.
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His bill would also bolster election-monitoring by requiring at least two officials from each campaign to observe polls and vote-counting.
Hawley introduced the bill in response to President Trump’s refusal to concede the presidential race to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump has claimed abnormalities and voter fraud in the election process, particularly a decision by some election officials to halt and then restart the counting of ballots that subsequently put Biden in the lead.
The Justice Department is investigating possible election abnormalities, although Democrats say the problems were not significant enough to change Biden’s victory.
Republican leaders have so far backed Trump’s decision to contest the election, although a handful of GOP lawmakers have congratulated Biden.
On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on Fox News that he received information about possible ballot-harvesting in Pennsylvania, where, he said, 25,000 nursing home residents requested mail-in ballots “at the exact same time.”
Hawley’s bill would require election officials to continue counting ballots until the process is completed and would prohibit a pause in the process unless there is an emergency.
The measure would also require all mail-in and absentee ballots to be counted when received and would require states to set up round-the-clock video surveillance of ballot drop boxes that would be accessible to the public at no charge.
The measure would also mandate the auditing of voting systems ahead of general elections.
“The debacle of the 2020 election has made clear that serious reforms are needed to protect the integrity of our elections,” Hawley said. “The American people deserve transparency — that means banning ballot harvesting, empowering poll watchers, and taking steps to ensure that all legally cast ballots are accounted for. The confusion and controversy of this past week is not acceptable, Congress must take action.”
