On Wednesday, Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-AL04) announced that he had signed on as an original cosponsor of the American Confidence in Elections Act (ACE Act).
“Proud to join my colleagues as an original cosponsor of the American Confidence in Elections Act,” Aderholt said on Twitter. “We are taking the necessary steps towards securing elections, cracking down on states that allow noncitizens to vote, and improving voting access for our service members overseas.”
The legislation was introduced by Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin). The American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act is reportedly the most conservative election integrity bill to be seriously considered in the House in over 20 years. The comprehensive bill includes nearly 50 standalone bills sponsored by members of the House Republican Conference. The sponsors say that the ACE Act equips states with election integrity tools, implements key reforms in D.C., and protects political speech.
“The ACE Act is a conservative, federalist approach to boost voter confidence and encourage more states to implement commonsense election integrity reforms,” Rep. Steil wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner. “The Committee on House Administration has oversight jurisdiction over federal elections. As chairman, I’m committed to upholding the Constitution by ensuring states maintain primary control over administering elections — not the federal government.”
“The ACE Act has three main pillars: equipping states with election integrity tools, implementing election integrity reforms in Washington, D.C., and protecting political speech and donor privacy.” Steil continued. “The primary section of the bill is focused on providing states with tools to improve voter confidence. We will remove outdated policies that stand in their way and provide access to information held only by federal agencies.”
Steil wrote that states should have access to the Social Security death list to maintain their voter rolls. “Another safeguard states can implement to improve voter confidence is requiring photo ID.”
The ACE Act would also prohibit federal funds from going to places that allow noncitizens to vote and stop noncitizens from voting in Washington, D.C. It would also prohibit the District of Columbia from mailing out ballots and require the District to finally implement photo ID.
The ACE Act would prohibit federal agencies like the IRS from asking for nonprofit organizations’ donor lists and bring greater transparency and accountability into the federal campaign finance system.
In addition to Rep. Aderholt, there are over 100 original House cosponsors of the ACE Act. House Republicans held a press conference on Wednesday to announce the introduction of the legislation.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said that the ACE Act would “ensure that elections across America will be fair and that people who are legally eligible to vote can actually cast that ballot and that people who aren’t legally eligible to vote can’t undermine the vote of everyone else, because when someone illegally votes they take away the vote from a legally voting American.”
“The idea that you have to show a picture ID to vote is common sense to Americans. In fact, polling indicates that about 80% of Americans support the idea that you require an ID to vote, including by the way a strong majority of Democrats support showing ID.” Scalise said. “Let’s go strengthen the sanctity of the vote. Don’t go mail ballots to people who have been off the rolls for years, that died or moved out of state. We have seen that. It is well documented. This bill that Chairman Steil and members of the committee have brought forward is an important step in the right direction to cleaning up our elections and ensuring that everybody who is entitled to vote can get that vote and that people who aren’t eligible can’t deny that vote. Let’s make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. This bill achieves that. I strongly support it and hope to bring it t the House floor.”
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen joined House Republicans in D.C. for that press conference. Allen also spoke with Congressman Jerry Carl (R-AL01) about the importance of election integrity during his visit to Washington.
“I sat down with Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen to talk about everything Alabama is doing to ensure election integrity in upcoming elections. He is doing an incredible job!” Rep. Carl said on Twitter.
Given the partisan divide over election integrity legislation, it is unlikely that the Senate Democrats will advance this legislation even if House Republicans are able to pass it out of the House. A signature from President Joe Biden is also unlikely ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Aderholt is in his 14th term representing Alabama’s Fourth Congressional District.
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