Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) today voted against Democrats' election power grab that would nationalize elections. LaHood released the following statement after his vote:
"It is an indisputable fact that voter turnout in America has never been higher, yet Democrats continue to push a false voter suppression narrative to attempt an unconstitutional federal takeover of our electoral system," said Rep. LaHood. "As President Biden's poll numbers plummet, the smallest majority in the history of Congress is attempting to change the way we run elections in every state. Congressional Democrats' efforts to blow up legislative and procedural rules to push their federal takeover of elections will undermine the faith in and the security of our electoral system."
Democrats' Filibuster Hypocrisy:
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is using legislative gimmicks to bring forward Democrats' so-called "voting rights" legislation and is intent on blowing up the filibuster to push it forward.
- Both of Illinois' Senators have flip-flopped on their position when it comes to the filibuster.
- In 2017, 32 Democrat Senators including Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Vice President Kamala Harris signed a letter urging Senate leadership to preserve the filibuster.
- In 2018, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin said abolishing the legislative filibuster "would be the end of the Senate."
- In 2020, Senate Democrats set a record, using the filibuster over 300 times.
Democrats' Federal Takeover of Elections
- 2020 saw the highest turnout in 120 years and, according to Pew, 94% say it's easy to vote.
- The legislation Democrats are pushing would:
- 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,
- 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,
- And allow public financing of political campaigns, giving taxpayer dollars to candidates.
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