On Tuesday, the Senate Rules Committee is marking up S.1, the omnibus voting bill that would result in a federal takeover of our election system. This is a massive step in the wrong direction for election integrity and would standardize all the chaos that occurred in the 2020 election.
One of the bill’s more alarming provisions is mandating same-day voter registration in all 50 states. Election Day registration leaves election officials with no time to verify the accuracy of registrants’ information or check the eligibility of an individual to vote. Put simply, it leads to chaos and makes it significantly easier to cast a fraudulent ballot.
Of further concern is the bill’s requirement that states automatically register all individuals from state and federal databases such as the Department of Motor Vehicles. This does not account for the fact that not all individuals in these databases are eligible to vote. For example, a green card holder who has a driver’s license is not eligible to vote, but under this requirement, he or she would have his or her name added to a state’s registration list.
Additionally, this would lead to numerous duplicate registrations for individuals.
For decades, a significant problem facing our electoral system has been the chronic inaccuracy in state voter rolls that list the individuals registered to vote. The Public Interest Legal Foundation published a report, “Critical Condition,” that detailed the errors in America’s voter rolls. In 2016, there were 349,773 deceased registrants and 43,760 duplicate registrants who appear to have cast two votes.
S.1 will significantly worsen this problem and make the voter rolls drastically more inaccurate. It will lead to more fraudulent ballots being cast.
S.1 would also ban voter ID laws. Not only does voter ID increase election integrity by verifying that voters are who they say they are, but it is also overwhelmingly popular. According to a poll released by the Associated Press, 72% approve of requiring a photo ID to vote.
Following 2020, there are more eyes than ever on the integrity of our election system. But S.1 is a huge step backward. We need to enact reforms that create trust in our election process. Voters need to believe that our election process is free and fair. S.1 will only create more distrust in the system.
Congress should abandon S.1.
J. Christian Adams is the president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a former Justice Department attorney, and current commissioner on the United States Commission for Civil Rights.
