Jason Snead, the Executive Director of the ‘Honest Elections Project’, is warning that Congress Democrat’s latest voting reform bill, called the ‘For the People Act of 2021’, will create several constitutional issues that will cause “a rush to the courthouse steps.”
It was passed through the House in early 2021, with one Democrat opposing it and no Republicans supporting the bill.
The bill is currently one of the top legislative priorities for left-leaning lawmakers. If passed, the bill would make several of the federally mandated ‘temporary’ voting reforms set in place during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent.
The proposal would federally establish nationwide mail-in voting, eliminate voter ID requirements, and allow illegal immigrants and convicted felons to vote.
“There are a number of constitutional infirmities and deficiencies that stem from its treatment of presidential and congressional elections identically, even though Congress has vastly reduced powers to regulate presidential elections under the Constitution,” Snead told reporters on Wednesday.
“There are problems under the 14th Amendment, for instance, when it comes to felon re-enfranchisement because the 14th Amendment clearly allows states to make determinations about whether someone is going to lose their voting rights when they commit a felony and are convicted,” he continued.
“The Constitution says state legislatures have that power, but this bill compels by an act of Congress that they effectively cede that to independent redistricting commissions, so there are lots of problems with this and I think you will see a tremendous number of lawsuits filed as Congress essentially tries to step on the toes of the states,” Snead added.
On Tuesday, a mark-up session was held by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to reform some of the bill’s amendments. The panel did not agree on a finalized version of the bill, although several amendments were added.
