The House of Representatives has more than 20 committees, and more than 100 subcommittees. With all those chairmen, all those jurisdictions, and all those issues, it can be extremely hard to get attention for important legislative efforts. That’s why press secretaries on the Hill go to extreme lengths to get press coverage of hearings and markups. That’s why it’s strange when a committee hearing goes completely unannounced. Strange as it is, that’s essentially what happened in the Committee on House Administration yesterday, in the Subcommittee on Elections (no website exists). The subcommittee is holding a hearing on legislation to eliminate all restrictions on the use of absentee ballots in federal elections. The measure states:
That’s a broad prohibition, and it fails to recognize the interest in ensuring the sanctity of the ballot. Are states permitted to verify that a ballot reaches the intended recipient? Can they take steps to ensure that the person requesting the ballot is who he or she claims to be? Can they require that a voter fill out the ballot for him or herself? Can they make it illegal for groups to come together and fill out ballots together? None of these restrictions appears to be contemplated by the legislation in question. Read this post over at RedState for more information on this effort at voting ‘reform,’ and some of the instances of vote fraud that the Democratic leadership in Congress isn’t so eager to address.
