HYDE-SMITH VOWS TO CONTINUE FIGHT AGAINST DEMOCRAT TAKEOVER OF U.S. ELECTIONS
Miss. Senator Offered Voter ID & Other Amendments during Rules Committee Markup of Election Reform Scheme
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today vowed to continue her fight against radical legislation championed by congressional Democrats to federalize U.S. elections, which would among other things squash voter ID laws in Mississippi and dozens of states.
Hyde-Smith introduced and debated amendments to S.1, the sweeping election reform scheme that would impose federal controls on every aspect of voting. The Senate Rules and Administration Committee marked up the bill Tuesday, approving just one of the Hyde-Smith amendments to improve the measure. She voted against committee passage.
“I will continue to fight S.1 because it remains a massive federal take-over of elections, with overly prescriptive mandates that fit a Democrat one-size-fits-all view of how elections in this country should be run,” Hyde-Smith said. “The committee approved one of my amendments, but that doesn’t begin to fix all the problems in this bill.”
The committee adopted a Hyde-Smith amendment to permit states to exclude those convicted of crimes against children from the S.1 requirement to allow felons to vote. However, it blocked other Hyde-Smith amendments regarding voter ID, government-funded campaigns, and others.
“S.1 is not about voting rights. It is about Democrats’ using every aspect of the election system in this country to hold on to power,” Hyde-Smith said. “The federalization of federal elections, as envisioned by Democrats in this 800-page bill, would impose costly and burdensome mandates on states and localities on just every aspect of federal elections.”
The following is a review of the Hyde-Smith amendments introduced for the committee markup of S.1:
- Hyde-Smith #1: “to strike the provision of the bill that would require states to permit felons to vote.”
- Hyde-Smith #2: “to strike the provision of the bill relating to the IRS and ‘secret money transparency’”
- Hyde-Smith #3: “to strike the provision of the bill relating to the SEC and ‘shareholder right to know’”
- Hyde-Smith #4: “to strike the provisions of the bill relating to ‘secret money transparency’ and ‘shareholder right to know’”
- Hyde-Smith #5: “to redirect the funds from public financing of political campaigns to rural hospitals” (Statement/Video)
- Hyde-Smith #6: “to provide an exception to the restoration of voting rights for rape.”
- Hyde-Smith #7: “to provide and exception to the restoration of voting rights for crimes against children” (Passed. Statement/Video)
- Hyde-Smith #8: “to provide and exception to the restoration of voting rights for sex trafficking”
- Hyde-Smith #9: “to strike the provisions relating to redistricting and public financing for political campaigns”
- Hyde-Smith #10: “to provide an exception to the restoration of voting rights for rape, felony crimes against children or felony sex trafficking crimes”
- Hyde-Smith #11: “to prohibit payments to jurisdictions that allow noncitizens to vote”
- Hyde-Smith #12: “to require ballots providing a sworn statement in lieu of voter identification requirements be counted only as provisional ballots.” (Statement/Video)
Hyde-Smith, resolutely against S.1 since its inception, offered sharp criticisms of the measure during Rules Committee consideration of the legislation in March.
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