Fact check: Pence echoes Trump’s big lie in dishonest editorial on electoral rules

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But Pence also made statements about what happened in the 2020 election. Most notably, he started the article by claiming that the election involved “significant voting irregularities.”

Unlike Trump, Pence did not say the election involved significant “fraud”. But he left his more vague claim about “voting irregularities” widely open to readers to be interpreted as an endorsement of Trump’s fraudulent lie.

Pence’s claims about HR 1

Now let’s move on to Pence’s more specific claims regarding HR 1, also known as the For the People Act. The bill would make major changes to many electoral rules; it also contains important provisions on government ethics.

Vote identification

Pence claimed that under the bill, “voter ID would be banned from coast to coast.”

Facts first: It’s wrong. The bill does not prohibit states from having voter identification requirements. Rather, it requires states to allow voters who do not present identification to instead submit a signed declaration under penalty of perjury attesting to their identity and eligibility to vote.

Pence could reasonably argue that this provision weakens the voter identification rules; Heritage Action for America, an advocacy organization linked to the Heritage Foundation, argued that the provision “sabotages” and “undermines” state rules. But Pence’s claim that voter identification is “prohibited” is not true.

Immigrants without papers and vote

Pence suggested the bill would allow undocumented immigrants to register to vote. Specifically, he asserted that by requiring “automatic voter registration for anyone listed in state and federal government databases,” such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and welfare offices, the The bill would ensure “that millions of illegal immigrants are quickly registered to vote”.

Facts first: It’s wrong. The bill does not change the current law that prohibits people who are not citizens of the United States, including undocumented immigrants, from voting in federal elections. The bill makes it clear that people would still have to assert that they are U.S. citizens before they are added to the voters lists. It also says government agencies involved in the process must only notify U.S. citizens that they will be registered to vote unless they choose to opt out. And he says that agencies are required to send not only the names of people, but also “information showing that the individual is a citizen of the United States.”

It is true that in states that already have automatic voter registration, there have sometimes been errors that have led non-citizens to register to vote. But there are also errors in states without automatic voter registration. Daniel Weiner, deputy director of the electoral reform program at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, said in an interview that automatic voter registration “increases the accuracy” of voter lists, “not the reverse ”.

Either way: Pence was wrong to suggest that “anyone” registered in government databases would be registered to vote regardless of their citizenship status.

The deadline for postal ballots

Pence wrote that “States would be required to count every postal vote that arrives up to 10 days after polling day.”

Facts first: This is at best misleading. The bill requires states to accept mail-in ballots that arrive up to 10 days after polling day only if those ballots are mailed on or before polling day. Ballots mailed after polling day will not be counted even if they arrived before the 10-day deadline.

“This proposal does not allow individuals to vote after election day and would help ensure that all valid ballots are counted regardless of postal delays which are beyond the control of the voter,” Sarah Brannon, chief counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project said in an email.

The vote of those formerly incarcerated

Pence wrote that passing the bill would mean “criminals could vote when they get out of jail.”

Facts first: It’s correct. Under the bill, people who have committed crimes would be allowed to vote in federal elections unless they are currently incarcerated.

“People who have served a criminal sentence would have their right to vote in the reinstated federal election once they were released or received a term of probation,” said Matthew Weil, director of the elections project at think tank Bipartisan Policy Center. E-mail. “States would be required to notify such persons of their re-issuance.”

In a bipartisan vote this week, the House voted 328 to 97 to reject an amendment by the Progressive Democrats to extend federal voting rights to people who are still incarcerated.

“Universal” ballots

Pence claimed that “the bill would force states to pass universal ballots.”

Facts first: The accuracy of this statement depends on how you define the term “universal mail ballots”. Specifically, it is only accurate if you define the phrase differently than what Trump himself seemed to define during the 2020 campaign.

Trump used the phrase “universal ballots” to criticize states that mailed a ballot to every eligible registered voter without requiring the voter to request a ballot.

The Democratic bill does not require states to send out ballots that voters have not explicitly requested. Rather, the bill requires states to give all voters the opportunity to request a postal vote without excuse.

“HR 1 would require a no-excuse mail-in ballot process for all federal elections. This is different from what some call ‘universal mail-in ballots’,” Weil said of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Electoral redistribution

Pence said that, under the bill, “congressional districts would be redesigned by unelected and irresponsible bureaucrats.”

Facts first: This claim is subjective, but it’s worth explaining what Pence was talking about: the bill proposes to end the practice of gerrymandering by state lawmakers. Under the bill, the district boundaries of each state would be drawn by 15 members “Independent redistribution commissions” made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and five people not affiliated with either party.

What constitutes an “irresponsible bureaucrat” is up for debate, but commissions are not designed to be filled by government employees, as Pence’s language may have suggested. Members of the public could apply; political consultants, lobbyists and government contractors would be banned.

Major democracies, including Canada, England and Australia, use independent bodies to draw district boundaries rather than allowing lawmakers to do so.

Undocumented immigrants and representation

Pence said that under the bill, “illegal immigrants and law-abiding US citizens would receive equal representation in Congress.”

Facts first: This is true, but it’s important to note that it already is. Under United States precedent and law, congressional districts have long been distributed based on total population, regardless of citizenship status. While Trump research to exclude undocumented migrants from the calculations, President Joe Biden Posted a decree in January overturn Trump’s policy.

Weiner of the Brennan Center said Pence was “disguising the status quo as something new and bad.”

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