Fact check: Pence echoes Trump’s Big Lie in dishonest opinion on election rules

Fact check: Pence echoes Trump’s Big Lie in dishonest opinion on election rules

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But Pence also made claims about what happened in the 2020 election. Most importantly, he started the article by claiming that the election involved ‘significant irregularities in the vote’.

Unlike Trump, Pence did not say the election involved significant ‘fraud’. But he left his vague allegation of “irregularities in the voice” wide open to readers to interpret as an endorsement of Trump’s fraud.

Pence’s allegations about HR 1

Let’s now look at Pence’s more specific allegations about HR 1, also known as the For the People Act. The bill will make major changes to numerous election rules; it also contains important provisions on government ethics.

Voter identification

Pence claims that under the bill ‘the voter ID will be banned from coast to coast’.

Facts first: This is false. The bill does not prohibit countries from having voter identification requirements. On the contrary, it requires states that voters who do not show proof of identity must instead submit a signed declaration under penalty of perjury confirming their identity and voting rights.

Pence can reasonably argue that this provision weakens the voter ID rules; Heritage Action for America, a advocacy organization affiliated with The Heritage Foundation, has argued that the provision “sabotages” and “undermines” state rules. But Pence’s statement that voter ID would be “forbidden” is not true.

Undocumented immigrants and votes

Pence proposed that the bill allow immigrants without documents to register to vote. He specifically argued that the bill ‘by requiring automatic voter registration for any individual named in the state and federal government database’, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and Welfare Offices, required the bill to ensure that millions of illegal immigrants were quickly registered. to vote.

Facts first: This is false. The bill does not change current legislation that prohibits non-U.S. citizens, including undocumented immigrants, from voting in federal elections. The bill makes it clear that people will still have to confirm that they are U.S. citizens before being added to the electoral roll. It also says that the government agencies involved in the process should only notify U.S. citizens that they will be registered to vote unless they choose to withdraw. And it is said that the agencies are obliged to send state election officials, not only people’s names, but also “information showing that the individual is a citizen of the United States.”

It is true that in countries that already have automatic voter registration, there were sometimes mistakes that led to non-citizens being registered to vote. But there are also errors in states without automatic voter registration. Daniel Weiner, deputy director of the election reform program at the liberal Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said in an interview that automatic voter registration increases voter accuracy, not the other way around.

Regardless: Pence was wrong in suggesting that “any individual” listed in government databases would be registered to vote, regardless of their citizenship status.

The deadline for ballot papers

Pence wrote that “states will have to count every ten entries that arrive up to 10 days after election day.”

Facts first: This is misleading at best. The bill requires states to only accept ballots that arrive up to 10 days after election day if the ballots are posted on or before election day. Ballot papers sent after election day will not be counted, even if they arrive before the 10-day deadline.

“This proposal does not allow individuals to vote after election day and will help ensure that all valid votes are counted, regardless of the postal delays that are beyond the voter’s control,” said Sarah Brannon, MD, MD Union’s Voting Rights Project. , said in an email.

Voting by former prisoners

Pence wrote that the passage of the bill would mean that “criminals could vote as soon as they set foot out of jail.”

Facts first: This is correct. Under the bill, people who have committed crimes will be allowed to vote in federal elections unless they are currently locked up.

“Individuals who have completed a criminal sentence will again have the right to vote in federal elections as soon as they are released from detention or a sentence is imposed,” said Matthew Weil, director of the election project at the Bipartisan Policy Center brainstorm, in an email. “States will be required to notify these individuals of their redress.”

In a dual vote this week, the House voted 328 to 97 to defeat an amendment by progressive Democrats to extend federal voting rights to people still locked up.

‘Universal’ ballot papers

Pence claims that “the bill will force states to adopt universal ballots.”

Facts first: The accuracy of this claim depends on how you define the phrase “universal ballots”. This is specifically only accurate if you define the phrase differently than Trump seems to define it during the 2020 campaign.

Trump used the phrase ‘universal’ ballot papers to criticize the states that sent a ballot to every registered voter without requiring the voter to ask for a ballot.

The Democrats’ bill does not require states to send out ballot papers that voters did not explicitly ask for. Rather, the bill requires states to give all voters the option to vote without apology.

“HR 1 requires a no-apology voting process for all federal elections. It is different from what is called ‘universal ballots’,” said Weil of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Redistribution

Pence said that under the bill, ‘congressional districts will be redesigned by unelected, irresponsible bureaucrats’.

Facts first: This allegation is subjective, but it is worth explaining what Pence was talking about: in the bill, it is intended to put an end to the use of justice by the legislature. Under the bill, district boundaries in each state would be drawn by 15-member “independent redistributive commissions” consisting of five Republicans, five Democrats, and five people not affiliated with either party.

What is an “irresponsible bureaucrat” is fine, but the commissions are not designed to be filled by government workers, as Pence’s language may have suggested. Members of the public can apply; political consultants, lobbyists and government contractors would be banned.

Major democracies, including Canada, England, and Australia, use independent bodies to draw district lines rather than allow legislators to do so.

Undocumented immigrants and representation

Pence said that, under the bill, “illegal immigrants and law-abiding U.S. citizens will receive equal representation in Congress.”

Facts first: This is true, but it is important to note that this is already the case. According to U.S. precedent and legislation, congressional districts are long allocated on the basis of the total population, regardless of citizenship status. While Trump wanted to exclude undocumented immigrants from the calculations, President Joe Biden reached out an executive order in January reverses Trump policy.

Weiner of the Brennan Center said Pence “attracts the status quo as something new and bad.”

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