WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) voted against S.1, the For the People Act, legislation that would dramatically alter the election laws across our country. Earlier today, Senator Tillis spoke on the Senate floor about the bill.
Watch the full floor speech here.
Tillis on the Democrats Trying to Federalize National Elections
“I have been in the Senate for six and a half years now, and this might be the worst bill I have seen come before this body. My friends on the other side of the aisle like to claim this legislation is essential for protecting democracy, but in the face of text that could be patently unconstitutional and taking away the rights of states to administer their elections. I find it hard to believe that it’s anything more than a motivated attempt to federalize our nation’s election system.”
Tillis on Voter ID
“The For The People Act would essentially render null voter ID laws across this country. Instead of an ID, which I think every citizen should have, you would simply just sign an affidavit to say you are who you say you are. I’ve heard the Georgia law being brought up as providing egregious limits or obstacles to proving who you say you are. In a hearing a month or so ago, we had an official from Georgia in our Judiciary Committee. I said, could you explain to me what the challenge is - if someone gets an absentee ballot, as you do in North Carolina, we have no excuse absentee balloting, we have had it for years, and I have supported it. We had people say that it was an egregious imposition to note a 10 or 12 character driver’s license or government ID number on the affidavit. That’s all it is. You don’t have to send a copy of it. You just simply have to write a number down.”
Tillis on Ballot Harvesting
“I also worry about a provision in this bill that would allow nationwide ballot harvesting. There’s only a couple of states that allow ballot harvesting. What does that mean? You have a worker going door-to-door and encouraging somebody to vote. It might be someone who doesn’t want to vote. But now you are up there to capture their ballot, and bring a bunch of ballots to the polls. Ballot harvesting is legal in some states, I know in California. It’s not legal in our state…And I’ll tell you one thing that if the Founding Fathers were here in this chamber they would be really scratching their head.”
Watch the full floor speech here.
Tillis on the Democrats Trying to Federalize National Elections
“I have been in the Senate for six and a half years now, and this might be the worst bill I have seen come before this body. My friends on the other side of the aisle like to claim this legislation is essential for protecting democracy, but in the face of text that could be patently unconstitutional and taking away the rights of states to administer their elections. I find it hard to believe that it’s anything more than a motivated attempt to federalize our nation’s election system.”
Tillis on Voter ID
“The For The People Act would essentially render null voter ID laws across this country. Instead of an ID, which I think every citizen should have, you would simply just sign an affidavit to say you are who you say you are. I’ve heard the Georgia law being brought up as providing egregious limits or obstacles to proving who you say you are. In a hearing a month or so ago, we had an official from Georgia in our Judiciary Committee. I said, could you explain to me what the challenge is - if someone gets an absentee ballot, as you do in North Carolina, we have no excuse absentee balloting, we have had it for years, and I have supported it. We had people say that it was an egregious imposition to note a 10 or 12 character driver’s license or government ID number on the affidavit. That’s all it is. You don’t have to send a copy of it. You just simply have to write a number down.”
Tillis on Ballot Harvesting
“I also worry about a provision in this bill that would allow nationwide ballot harvesting. There’s only a couple of states that allow ballot harvesting. What does that mean? You have a worker going door-to-door and encouraging somebody to vote. It might be someone who doesn’t want to vote. But now you are up there to capture their ballot, and bring a bunch of ballots to the polls. Ballot harvesting is legal in some states, I know in California. It’s not legal in our state…And I’ll tell you one thing that if the Founding Fathers were here in this chamber they would be really scratching their head.”
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