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Joe Biden holds his first press conference as president.<\/p><\/div>\n
by I&I Editorial<\/p>\n
\u2018Un-American.\u201d \u201cSick.\u201d \u201cDespicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
What got President Joe Biden in such a lather? Was it the children packed liked sardines at border detention facilities? The recent mass shootings? China\u2019s human rights abuses?<\/p>\n
Nope. Biden flew off the handle over the fact that several states are taking steps to reform their election laws in ways he doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It\u2019s sick,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s sick \u2026 deciding in some states that you can\u2019t bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote. Deciding you\u2019re going to end voting at five o\u2019clock when working people are just getting off work. Deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Republican voters I know find this despicable,\u201d he added later. \u201cRepublican voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t done. \u201cI\u2019m convinced that we\u2019ll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. This is gigantic, what they\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what is it that states are trying to do? First, it\u2019s worth clearing up a few things Biden rattled off.<\/p>\n
There is a debate in Georgia about a provision regarding bringing voters food and water while they are waiting to vote. Is that un-American? Not when you consider that such \u201cservices\u201d could amount to illegal electioneering. But maybe Biden thinks those restrictions are un-American, too.<\/p>\n
That 5 p.m. poll closing time? He\u2019s apparently referring to a plan in Texas that would have polls close\u00a0in the first week of early voting<\/em>\u00a0at 5 p.m. But they\u2019d be open until 7 p.m. in the second week of early voting. And the point of the measure is to create a uniform rule across the state, instead of the wide variations seen in the last election.<\/p>\n And the \u201cno absentee ballots\u201d is bogus. States are trying to rein in mail-in voting that caused massive problems in the last election.<\/p>\n What are some of the other un-American provisions states are considering to protect their elections from fraud? In Georgia, one bill would require voters to include a photocopy of an accepted form of identification with their ballot request form and their absentee vote, instead of a signature, so as to avoid problems with signature matching.<\/p>\n Despicable!<\/em><\/p>\n Arizona\u2019s bill, which Gov. Doug Ducey signed last week, will increase the accuracy of state voter rolls by mandating the secretary of state compare death records with voter registrations and remove deceased voters. It would add an annual review of the state voter registration database to clear out the names of the dead.<\/p>\n Sick!<\/em><\/p>\n In Iowa, Gov.\u00a0Kim Reynolds signed an election reform bill in early March that requires absentee\u00a0ballots\u00a0to arrive before the polls close\u00a0on Election Day. It forbids county auditors from mailing absentee ballot request forms to voters unless a voter explicitly asks for one.\u00a0It obligates auditors and election officials to\u00a0enforce\u00a0state election laws\u00a0and follow guidelines set by the\u00a0Iowa secretary of state,\u00a0with a fine\u00a0of up to $10,000\u00a0for noncompliance.<\/p>\n It also prohibits \u201cballot harvesting,\u201d whereby people can go around and collect and handle absentee ballots from voters \u2013 something several states already ban because it is a recipe for widespread election fraud.<\/p>\n Pernicious!<\/em><\/p>\n The press, of course, has been following the Democrat\u2019s talking points on this to the letter, writing about every such measure in terms of voter suppression, while praising congressional Democrats for their \u201cvoting rights\u201d bill.<\/p>\n But\u00a0as we noted in this space<\/a>, it\u2019s Biden and company who are attempting something despicable and un-American with their \u201cFor the People Act,\u201d also known as H.R. 1.<\/p>\n That bill would federalize elections, forcing states to abide by rules that have nothing to do with the access that legitimate voters have to the polls, but would make it easier for Democrats to steal elections. We noted that, among other things, H.R. 1:<\/p>\n It is this attempted power grab by Democrats that is un-American, for the simple reason that\u00a0the American way has always been to have states manage their own elections<\/em>. It\u2019s the best way, because states are better suited to the job.<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s Biden really so mad about? That Democrats won\u2019t be able to establish a one-party state?<\/p>\n \u2014 Written by the\u00a0I&I Editorial Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n