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Republicans in the House have finalized a plan for states to use so they can ensure their elections are legitimate and secure.
According to The Federalist, the plan is comprised of a package of measures that state legislatures can adopt and enact “to increase voters’ confidence and promote election integrity.” Called “The Uniform State American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act,” it contains 13 recommended state laws and is modeled “after the ACE Act, a federal measure containing similar provisions that House Republicans introduced last year.”
The outlet added: “The bill was passed by the Committee on House Administration in July and is awaiting a full House floor vote.”
The Uniform State ACE Act incorporates policies that have received longstanding support from election integrity advocates. These policies encompass voter ID and the necessity for proof of residency when individuals cast their votes in person or via mail, the outlet reported.
Despite assertions by Democrats that ID requirements disproportionately affect non-white voters, a significant majority of U.S. voters, including those from black and Hispanic communities, favor these measures as safeguards for elections. Furthermore, numerous courts have recently rejected lawsuits brought forth by Democrats, which claimed that voter ID laws “suppress” voters, the outlet noted further.
Another proposed policy involves the requirement to periodically purge ineligible voters from state voter rolls, including the removal of any individuals who are not U.S. citizens from the list.
The Federalist continued:
Non-citizens on voter registration lists is a problem in many states. In 2017, Pennsylvania officials discovered an error in the computer system of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that allowed “non-United States citizens applying for or renewing a driver’s license to register to vote in the Commonwealth.” Pennsylvania has largely refused to forfeit records related to the matter, despite a March 2022 court order.
The Keystone State has since adopted automatic voter registration, in which Pennsylvanians obtaining a driver’s license at facilities such as the DMV will be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out. Under commonwealth law, “lawfully present” non-citizens are permitted to apply for a REAL ID driver’s license or ID card.
“By providing a toolkit of election integrity bills to states, we are going one step further in securing our elections and increasing Americans’ confidence,” bill co-sponsor and Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., noted in a statement. Co-sponsor Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., added that “Americans need to feel confident that their elections are secure.”
“The Uniform State ACE Act also recommends increased poll watcher access; safeguards for mail-in voting; limits on early voting and ballot drop boxes; and bans on non-citizen voting, some forms of third-party ballot harvesting, and ranked-choice voting,” the outlet reported.
Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that Ohio’s strict voter ID law, which includes a photo provision, is constitutional and rejected a challenge to it.
The ruling tossed out a complaint filed by a Democratic law firm challenging provisions including a photo ID, “drop box restrictions, and tightened deadlines related to absentee and provisional ballots,” ABC News reported.
In his Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent, a Clinton appointee, found that the Ohio photo ID requirement, in particular, “imposes no more than a minimal burden, if any, for the vast majority of voters.”
The judge stated that there is no constitutional entitlement for voters to access mail-in or early voting options. Furthermore, he pointed out that Ohio’s revised timetable for acquiring and submitting absentee ballots is still more accommodating than that of 30 other states.
He pointed out that the argument suggesting that restricting ballot drop boxes to one location negatively impacted voters was not accurate, given that the 2023 law marked the state’s first use of such boxes.
