Heritage Foundation scholar breaks down ‘absurd’ federalization of elections in Democrats’ bill

Former Justice Department attorney Hans von Spakovsky joined “Life, Liberty & Levin” for an interview airing Sunday in which he broke down what he considered the most alarming changes to election laws that come to be if Democrats are able to pass Rep. Terri Sewell’s, D-Ala., “John Lewis Voting Rights Act.”

Von Spakovsky, who served under President George W. Bush and is now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, told host Mark Levin that Sewell’s bill, heavily supported by Biden and fellow Democrats, will effectively erase any independent state government’s control of their own election procedures.

“These laws do everything from gutting voter I.D. laws in all the states, to putting severe restrictions on states [from] being able to verify the eligibility and qualifications of voters, and [restrictions against] cleaning up and maintain[ing] the accuracy of their voter lists,” he said.

“I mean, some of the restrictions are just absurd: For example, if you register to vote and then you don’t vote for the next 50 years, they still can’t take you off the list.”

Von Spakovsky said the Lewis Act, named for a late congressman from Atlanta, would permit partisan political operatives to harvest ballots from people’s homes – which he warned is a proposition rife for potential fraud and illicit behavior:

“[It] would mandate that states allow vote trafficking: In other words, states would have to allow paid political operatives and candidates and campaign staffers to be able to go to voters homes to pick up and handle their absentee ballots, which of course, puts them in a good position to alter or change those ballots, and maybe not deliver them – and to coerce and pressure those voters,” he said.

“There are so many provisions in here it’s hard to list them all…