In his days after the Trump administration, Ken Cuccinelli is taking the initiative to restore confidence in electoral systems and generate opposition to the broad Democratic HR 1 electoral bill.
On Monday, all House Democrats signed HR 1, dubbed the People’s Law. Billed as a way to expand voting rights, the legislation includes everything from a state resolution in DC to automatic electoral registration. Republicans said the bill amounts to a “federal government takeover” of the electoral law.
Cuccinelli, former deputy secretary of homeland security, partnered with Susan B. Anthony List and the American Principles Project in the campaign and will chair the Electoral Transparency Initiative. The effort, led by social conservatives, has an initial $ 5 million war fund.
Cuccinelli said his goal is “to act quickly to defeat the Democrats’ efforts in Washington to federalize electoral laws through HR1, while it is offensive at the state level to gather the bases around significant reforms.
“The pro-life movement must engage in electoral transparency and integrity reform, or its ability to elect pro-life and pro-family legislators – and pass life-saving laws – will be greatly diminished, if not extinguished,” said the former Trump official and former Virginia attorney general said.
The group plans to mount a defense of the Senate obstruction and the current Senate rules for the reconciliation process and to mobilize bases in battlefields like West Virginia, Arizona and Montana, to convince senators to oppose HR 1. The initiative it will also push for state electoral reforms.
EACH HOUSE DEM SIGNS ON HR’S ELECTION ACCOUNT 1
HR 1 is expected to reach the House floor in the first week of March.
The legislation would create automatic electoral registration across the country and ensure that those serving criminal sentences have their voting rights restored. The project will also expand early voting and improve absentee voting, simplifying voting by mail.
But potentially the bill’s most contentious measure commits Congress to fulfilling Washington, DC’s statehood. It also prohibits purging voter lists and “puts an end to party gerrymandering to prevent politicians from choosing their voters”.
Leading minority senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Called this the “Democratic Politician Protection Act”. Republicans argue that creating a state in DC is a chance for two more Democratic senators.
The project also seeks to “end the domination of too much money in our policies” and aims to illuminate “dark money in politics”, updating the dissemination of political ads online and requiring all organizations involved in political activities to disclose their major donors.
HOUSE DEMS REVIVE ‘FOR PEOPLE ACT’ FOR ‘ELECTOR SUPPRESSION’, ‘DARK MONEY’ AND GERRYMANDERING
The bill also “breaks the so-called ‘nesting doll’ hoax, which allows big taxpayers and special interests to hide the real source of funding for their political spending” by donating to another group to buy a political ad. And he says he “strengthens the political power of American workers by creating a multiple correspondence system for small donations”.
The correspondence system “will be fully paid for a new surcharge on corporate lawbreakers and wealthy fraudsters,” according to the bill.
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The bill also, in a blow to ex-President Trump, requires presidents to disclose their tax returns – something Trump was able to avoid while in office.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.