Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman David B. McKinley, P.E. (WV-01) voted to reject the attempted election power-grab by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. Their extreme bill would dramatically weaken election security by removing common-sense voter ID provisions, leaving elections more susceptible to fraud.

“At a time when the Biden Administration has failed to address the real concerns of Americans, like the 40 year-record high inflation rates, the drug and immigration crisis at the southern border, empty store shelves, and the Covid-19 pandemic, Democrats are instead focused on nationalizing elections and undermining common sense protections designed to ensure the integrity of elections,” said McKinley.

“Speaker Pelosi and far-left Democrats are using scare tactics to justify their federal takeover of elections, claiming our democracy is at risk. The reality is their “voting rights” bill is a shameless power grab that removes basic protections like voter ID, mandates that states allow ballot harvesting, and strips away common-sense safeguards from absentee voting because they believe it would benefit them on election day,” said McKinley.

“Elections in West Virginia are proven, secure and accessible, with trusted results. We must reject this brazen attempt to destroy the integrity of American elections,” McKinley added.

Background:

Despite claims made by Democrats that current election laws are overly restrictive, 2020 saw the highest turnout in 120 years. In fact, according to Pew, 94% say it's easy to vote.

Democrats failed to garner enough support to pass similar legislation twice in 2021.  

Provisions in the Democrats' "voting rights" legislation:

• Give billions of public dollars to campaigns.
• Speaker Pelosi would receive up to $22.7 million in public dollars for her reelection campaign, and
• Senate Majority Leader Schumer would receive up to $44.1 for his reelection campaign.
  
• Transform the office of the U.S. Attorney General into an unelected, unaccountable "Elections Czar" with the power to change state elections law and circumvent state constitutional processes.
  
• Force states to legalize ballot harvesting.
  
• Make it harder for states to maintain their voter lists.
• Disregard state voter identification laws and provisional ballot rules.
• Allow the IRS to investigate and consider the political and policy persuasions of organizations before granting tax-exempt status.