When Democrats gather in Chicago for their convention, they will deliver eloquent speeches, deploy fiery rhetoric and peddle media pundits with their caustic opinions and outlandish predictions.
In the endless war of words, the most important story may not have been discussed: changes to state election laws. For the better.
None of these reforms will matter if there are no criminal penalties for bad actors who violate election laws.
Lawmakers across the country answered voters’ calls to protect the ballot. From Tallahassee, Atlanta and Des Moines to Jefferson City and Columbus, lawmakers took action to protect democracy at the ballot box. In committee rooms, congressional hearings, in their offices and on the floor, lawmakers crafted strong election integrity legislation. And despite overwhelming media threats and disingenuous reporting, lawmakers put the American people first.
Since 2020, 30 state legislatures have passed 225 bills to ensure voting security, increase accountability of the process, and provide transparency to the American people. It’s worth looking at what they’ve accomplished specifically.
First, state lawmakers decided it was common sense to stop billionaires from selectively handing cash to election officials whose job it is to run elections fairly.
Over the past four years, 28 states have banned private funding of public election administration, one of the worst forms of fraud in the 2020 election. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has “donated” more than $400 million to election offices across the country. The money, billed as COVID relief grants and channeled through nonprofits, “Zucker Bucks” not only allowed private entities to fund public election campaigns, but also to do so in a highly partisan manner.
take GeorgiaFor example, $45 million in Zuckerbucks grants were given to election offices during the 2020 election cycle. The money was used primarily for voter outreach in strategic districts. As a result, 75% of the counties that received grants shifted significantly to the left. The Georgia General Assembly initially banned the tactic, but in 2023, DeKalb County government officials received another $2 million in violation of the ban to close the loophole again.
In Wisconsin and Louisiana, where Democratic governors had twice vetoed anti-Zuckerbucks bills, state legislators strategically passed bills to put bans on the ballot. Voters in both states Overwhelmingly Approved These laws do not require the governor’s signature and are currently in effect.
Second, state lawmakers recognized the common sense required to make the absentee voting process safe and determined that it should not be easier to receive an absentee ballot by mail on Election Day than it should be to pick it up in person.
Since 2020, eight state legislatures have passed bills requiring people to show identification, such as a driver’s license number, to vote absentee. Absentee voting is inherently more vulnerable than traditional in-person voting on Election Day, and showing identification helps make mail-in voting more secure.
State legislators in Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, and South Carolina all faced intense media scrutiny for passing voter ID bills. However, the bill sponsors, committee chairs, and leaders did not back down. Ultimately, the challenged voter ID bills survived court scrutiny and will be implemented to ensure absentee voting in November.
Third, state lawmakers passed common-sense reforms to protect seniors and other vulnerable voters from ballot harvesting tactics.
In 2020, partisan special interests routinely collected absentee ballots from voters without safeguards for delivery. Voters had no way of knowing if their ballot had been tampered with or even delivered. Lawmakers correctly determined that ballots should not be handled by political activists with a vested interest in the election outcome.
Ten states have recently enacted reforms to thwart ballot harvesting by strictly defining who can return absentee ballots on a voter’s behalf. Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Texas have passed laws allowing certain people, such as family members, household members or designated caretakers, to return ballots on behalf of others.
Of course, none of these reforms matter without criminal penalties for bad actors who violate our election laws. State legislators in four states have enacted reforms to investigate and prosecute bad behavior and hold election violators accountable.
In Florida, legislators created a dedicated Office of Election Crimes and Security. This investigative office has trained law enforcement officers with election expertise to review complaints, oversee a public fraud hotline, and conduct investigations. Since the office’s creation, officials have received more than 2,000 complaints and initiated more than 1,000 independent investigations.
These changes are just a few of the accomplishments state lawmakers have worked hard to achieve. While there is still much work to be done on election integrity, these efforts will lead to safer, more secure elections, which is exactly what voters want.
State legislators put the American people first, and it is their work, not the words of a national party, that will determine the outcome of November’s election.
