Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is among a growing number of state attorneys general warning U.S. voters about what they claim is the destructive nature of House Resolution 4.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Paxton joined 22 other attorneys general in assailing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as legislation that seeks to “establish the U.S. Department of Justice as a national election czar dictating to states exactly how they must administer their elections.”
Already passed in the House, the movement is being led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who argues the measure is designed to require states to first obtain “preclearance” from the federal government before moving forward with election law changes.
“After fighting long and hard to pass Texas’s SB 1, which helps stop voter fraud and increase public trust in our elections, I refuse to sit back and allow voters in the great state of Texas to be silenced,” Paxton said in a press release. “HR 4 undermines the integrity of our elections, ignores the countless issues with voter fraud, and I am committed to stopping this misguided proposal.”
To date, no evidence of widespread election fraud has been discovered in Texas, or throughout the country.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Illinois), the ranking GOP member of the Committee on House Administration, hopes some Democratic lawmakers’ see what he and others do in opposing the measure as not being in the best interest of fair elections.
“In June of 2021, Joe Manchin introduced a 'compromise' voting rights framework that was described as a potential replacement to H.R. 1, but also laid out requirements for a potential new version of H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act,” Davis said in a press release. “Rather than respect Sen. Manchin’s framework, House Democrats thumbed their noses at the Senate’s 50th vote. If Sen. Manchin were to follow his own framework, he would not support the new version of H.R. 4.”
While Manchin’s proposal calls for a voter ID requirement, Davis argues H.R. 4 attacks such compromise at every turn. He further notes Manchin’s bill directly seeks to reduce the Attorney General’s authority to intervene in state elections.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act was introduced by Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Alabama), stated the following regarding its House passage:
“The passage of HR4 couldn’t come at a more critical time,” she told The Alabama Political Reporter. “As states and localities erect deliberate barriers to the ballot box at an unprecedented pace, the need for federal oversight has never been more urgent. The Senate must now use every tool at its disposal to pass this bill and ensure it lands on President Biden’s desk. There is absolutely no time to waste.”
According to a recent Fox Business report, from 2019 up to today, the Sixteen Thirty Fund has contributed over $750,000 in dark money to lobbying groups urging moderate Democrats to pass election restructuring bills like HR4.
