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John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021

Roll Call Number: 260 | Session Number: 1

The latest attempt by Washington politicians to federalize elections, H.R. 4, would make unelected bureaucrats including Merrick Garland in President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) the arbiters of election law. This bill would require every state to get the Biden DOJ’s permission to implement overwhelmingly popular election integrity reforms like voter ID by resurrecting antiquated pre-clearance requirements. For states like Florida, Georgia, and Arizona that are leading the way on election integrity, H.R. 4 punishes them by requiring any changes in election law to be approved by Biden’s DOJ. Biden’s DOJ is demonstrably hostile to state election integrity reforms. In June, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that Biden’s DOJ would be launching a lawsuit against Georgia for the state’s election integrity legislation. To give Biden’s partisan DOJ authority over state election laws is a dangerous and unacceptable proposition. H.R. 4’s nationwide pre-clearance requirements are an unprecedented power grab that undermines the authority of states to run their elections. Election integrity remains a priority for Americans, and it is not the role of the Washington swamp to prevent duly elected state legislatures from serving their constituents. Attempts to federalize our elections and stymie widely popular election integrity reforms run counter to the constitutional structure of our government; our elected officials must oppose H.R. 4 and protect our institutions.1