SC Rep. Norman: I stand by opposition to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Imagine the media’s posture if a Republican-controlled Congress was focused not on the myriad of issues facing America, but instead on a federal takeover of elections to make it easier for them to maintain power.

That’s precisely what congressional Democrats attempted with their so-called voting rights legislation in the House and Senate. With more hyperbolic claims than traffic jams on I-26, we were told sweeping changes to our election laws were urgently needed to protect voting rights going forward.

Republicans were denounced for daring to question the consequences of this legislation or the unspoken motives of those behind it. Even more frustrating was the mainstream media’s apparent inability to look beyond the “Voting Rights” title to analyze what was actually in the bill.

Among the troubling provisions within this legislation was an attack on voter ID laws, forcing states to simply accept a signed declaration of a voter’s name in lieu of valid identification. For a society that requires a photo ID for almost every important transaction, it is intellectually bankrupt to assert that verifying one’s identity with a valid ID — which is free in most states, including South Carolina —is somehow an obstacle to exercising our right to vote.

Next, this bill would have provided a 6-to-1 funding match for contributions up to $200 in federal races. This is wildly inappropriate, as your public dollars should never be used to fund the campaigns of candidates whose values and ideas you disagree with.

The bill would have required states to count ballots cast by voters outside of their assigned precincts, providing a fog of uncertainty across the nation over late arriving ballots, ballot security, and election results.

The bill would have restored a convicted felons’ right to vote immediately after leaving prison, even if they have incomplete parole, probation, or court-imposed restitution requirements.

It would have prohibited states from requiring witness signatures for absentee ballots by mail, which would obviously make voting by mail ripe for fraud.

Additionally, this bill would have made it more difficult for states to remove voters from their roles who have died or moved away, made the Federal Election Commission a partisan agency controlled by the majority party, and a host of other inappropriate measures.

If you’re reading this and just now learning of what this so-called “Voter Rights” legislation would have actually done, it’s possible your news consumption may be limited to our liberal mainstream outlets, with analysis by those who opine behind the convenient anonymity of an Editorial Board byline.

It was impossible for me, and my Republican colleagues, to see this effort as anything other than a deliberate attempt by Democrats to weaken election integrity, creating avenues they could later exploit in an effort to remain in power.

Are there steps to address voter experience? Perhaps, and our Constitution makes it clear that’s a state issue.

Would this federal bill have weakened election integrity across the country? Absolutely, which is why I voted against it in the House, and am pleased it was unable to advance in the Senate.

U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman represents South Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District.