September 20, 2006

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4844, the wrongly entitled Federal Election Integrity Act.  Like so many Republican window dressings, this bill might seem like a no-brainer to some.  Only citizens can vote, so why not have them show their ID and prove their address and citizenship to reduce fraud?  If only the real world were as simple as country club Republicans imagine.

What about students whose driver’s licenses show their home address but who register to vote on campus?  Nursing home residents who have been voting for over 50 years but whose documents are nowhere to be found?  Low-income Americans who don’t drive and have never had a state-issued identification?  It’s no coincidence that the people who will be disenfranchised by this bill are core Democratic constituencies.  Powerful interests have figured out that there are lots of ways to institute a poll tax by another name.

What about reducing voter fraud, something we all support?  It will come as no surprise to anyone who has run for office or worked in campaigns that there is little evidence of fraudulent voting.  It’s hard enough to convince most registered voters to go to the polls.  What is the incentive to engage in voter fraud, a felony offense?  In particular, there is little incentive for immigrants – against whom this legislation is targeted – to vote illegally. Voter fraud by immigrants is subject to immediate deportation without appeal.  Do the sponsors of this bill really believe that thousands, or even tens, of immigrants would risk deportation to cast a single vote?

If anything shatters confidence in our election system, it is the thousands of votes that are not counted because of dimpled chads, electronic voting breakdowns, provisional ballot mishaps, three-hour lines at polling places, and the like.  The Help America Vote Act, which was supposed to address some of these problems, has never been fully funded or enforced, and yet the Republican Majority wants to further restrict voting and create a new administrative nightmare for our states and localities.

I urge my colleagues to vote no on this bill, so that all Americans might have the opportunity to cast their vote in November against this desperate cling to power.