Fact check: Pence echoes Trump’s Big Lie in dishonest article on electoral rules

Fact check: Pence echoes Trump’s Big Lie in dishonest article on electoral rules

by

But Pence also made statements about what happened in the 2020 elections. Most notably, he started the article by claiming that the election involved “significant voting irregularities”.

Unlike Trump, Pence did not say that the election involved significant “fraud”. But he left his most vague statement about “voting irregularities” open for readers to interpret as an endorsement of Trump’s fraudulent lie.

Pence’s affirmations about HR 1

Now, let’s look at Pence’s more specific statements about HR 1, also known as For the People Act. The bill would make major changes to several electoral rules; it also contains significant provisions on government ethics.

Voter identification

Pence said that, according to the bill, “the voter registration card would be banned from coast to coast”.

Facts first: This is fake. The bill does not prohibit states from having voter identification requirements. Instead, it requires states to allow voters who do not present an identity document to submit a signed statement, under penalty of perjury, attesting to their identity and eligibility to vote.

Pence could reasonably argue that this provision weakens voter identification rules; Heritage Action for America, a defense organization linked to The Heritage Foundation, argued that the provision “sabotages” and “undermines” state rules. But Pence’s statement that the voter card would be “banned” is not true.

Undocumented immigrants and voters

Pence suggested that the bill would allow undocumented immigrants to register to vote. Specifically, he stated that by requiring “automatic electoral registration for any individual listed in state and federal government databases”, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and welfare offices, the bill would ensure “that millions of illegal immigrants are quickly registered to vote “.

Facts first: This is fake. The bill does not change the current law that prohibits people who are not citizens of the United States, including undocumented immigrants, from voting in federal elections. The bill makes it clear that people would still have to claim that they are US citizens before being included on voter lists. He also says that government agencies involved in the process should only inform US citizens that they will be registered to vote, unless they choose not to participate. And he says that agencies are required to send state voters not only people’s names, but “information that shows that the individual is a citizen of the United States.”

It is true that in states that already have automatic electoral registration, errors sometimes occur that cause non-citizens to be registered to vote. But there are also errors in states without automatic voter registration. Daniel Weiner, deputy director of the Electoral Reform Program at the liberal Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said in an interview that automatic voter registration “increases the accuracy” of electoral lists, “and not the other way around.”

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

The deadline for postal ballots

Pence wrote that “states would be required to count all votes received by mail within 10 days of election day.”

Facts first: This is, at best, misleading. The bill requires states to accept ballots sent by mail that arrive within 10 days of election day only if those ballots are sent on or before election day. Ballots sent after election day will not be counted, even if they arrived before the 10-day deadline.

“This proposal does not allow individuals to vote after election day and would help to ensure that all valid ballots are counted, regardless of postal delays that are beyond the voter’s control,” said Sarah Brannon, managing attorney for the Voting Rights Project. of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in an email.

Voting for ex-prisoners

Pence wrote that approval of the bill would mean that “criminals could vote the moment they stepped out of prison”.

Facts first: Is this right. Under the bill, people who have committed crimes would be allowed to vote in federal elections, unless they are currently incarcerated.

“Individuals who served a felony sentence would have their right to vote in federal elections reinstated once they were released from custody or received a parole sentence,” said Matthew Weil, director of the Elections Project at the think tank Bipartisan Policy Center, in a the e-mail. “States would be required to notify these individuals of their renegotiation.”

In a bipartisan vote this week, the House voted 328 to 97 to defeat an amendment by progressive Democrats to extend federal voting rights to people who are still incarcerated.

“Universal” banknotes by mail

Pence said that “the bill would force states to adopt universal ballots by mail”.

Facts first: The accuracy of this statement depends on how you define the phrase “universal shipping notes”. Specifically, it is only necessary if you define the phrase differently than Trump himself seemed to define it during the 2020 campaign.

Trump used the phrase “universal” ballots in the mail to criticize states that mailed a ballot to all registered voters without requiring the voter to request a ballot.

The Democrats bill does not require states to send ballots that voters have not explicitly requested. Instead, the bill requires states to give all voters the option of requesting a ballot in the mail without an excuse.

“HR 1 would require an voting process without excuse for all federal elections. This is different from what some call ‘universal ballots by mail’,” said Weil of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Redistricting

Pence said that, according to the bill, “congressional districts would be redesigned by unelected and irresponsible bureaucrats.”

Facts first: This statement is subjective, but it is worth explaining what Pence was talking about: the bill proposes to end the practice of gerrymandering by state legislators. According to the project, the district boundaries in each state would be drawn by 15 members “independent redistricting commissions” made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and five people not affiliated with any of the parties.

What constitutes an “irresponsible bureaucrat” is up for debate, but the commissions were not designed to be filled by government officials, as Pence’s language may have suggested. Members of the public could apply; political consultants, lobbyists and government contractors would be banned.

Major democracies, including Canada, England and Australia, use independent bodies to draw district boundaries, rather than allowing lawmakers to do so.

Undocumented immigrants and representation

Pence said that, according to the bill, “illegal immigrants and law-abiding American citizens would receive equal representation in Congress.”

Facts first: It is true, but it is important to note that this is already the case. In accordance with US law and precedent, electoral districts have long been distributed based on the total population, regardless of citizenship status. While Trump sought to exclude undocumented immigrants from the calculations, President Joe Biden published an executive order in January reversing Trump policy.

Weiner of the Brennan Center said Pence was “wearing the status quo as something new and nefarious”.

.Source