Republicans are making election integrity a key focus as new legislative sessions start. They aim to make sure only U. S. citizens can vote in federal elections and to prohibit private funding of these elections. Republican governments at state and local levels are also working to ban ranked-choice voting and improve voter roll accuracy.
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump canceled several executive orders from the Biden administration, including one known as “Bidenbucks. ” This executive order allowed federal agencies to promote voter registration with help from non-partisan organizations, but reports indicated a lack of transparency in its implementation. As a result, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil has subpoenaed several Biden cabinet officials for their plans concerning this order.
The Biden administration had cooperated with left-leaning organizations to put “Bidenbucks” into effect, which led to lawsuits from Republican attorneys general arguing that it violated the Constitution. Some of these lawsuits have since been dropped.
Steil has outlined plans for congressional Republicans to pass new election integrity laws. With Republicans in control of Congress and the White House, he highlighted two main pieces of legislation: the SAVE Act, which restricts elections to U. S. citizens, and the ACE Act, aimed at ensuring election integrity and preventing foreign money from influencing U. S. elections.
Many states are also pursuing election integrity laws, with some aiming to ban ranked-choice voting. This voting method requires a candidate to gain over 50% of votes to win, or else triggers a runoff process. Several states have already passed bans on this approach, including Iowa and Texas.
In Ohio, lawmakers enacted a law banning foreign donations to ballot measure campaigns, alongside efforts from Kansas, Missouri, and Montana to create similar bans. This move is partially in response to donations from foreign nationals that were suspected to influence U. S. politics.
Additionally, Oklahoma and Maricopa County, Arizona, are working on cleaning up their voter registration lists. Oklahoma removed over 129,000 inactive registrations, while Maricopa County eliminated more than 242,000 inactive voters from its rolls.
Overall, as the political landscape develops, Republicans are focused on establishing stricter election integrity measures to address their concerns about the voting process and potential outside influence.
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