{"id":1939395,"date":"2023-05-27T06:55:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T10:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congressional-witness-calls-red-state-election-reforms-voter-suppression\/"},"modified":"2023-05-27T06:55:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T10:55:23","slug":"congressional-witness-calls-red-state-election-reforms-voter-suppression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congressional-witness-calls-red-state-election-reforms-voter-suppression\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressional Witness Calls Red State Election Reforms \u2018Voter Suppression\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongressional-witness-calls-red-state-election-reforms-voter-suppression%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1939395&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0527\/dfd1cd83-93ff-44cf-b5eb-29617c219f22\/audio.mp3?length=5383053&#038;duration=449\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>The 2022 election failed black voters,\u201d said National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attorney Deuel Ross in a May 24 Congressional subcommittee hearing on elections.<\/p>\n<p>Ross testified that since the 2020 election 400 bills were introduced in state legislatures around the country to \u201crestrict the franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said 24 states had actually enacted 45 laws that \u201croll back voting rights\u201d and \u201cinterfere\u201d with election administration by shifting authority over elections from executive agencies or non-profit bodies to the legislature.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4396676\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/04\/11\/protect-voting-right-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus bow their heads in prayer with local faith leaders at the end of a news conference about voting rights at Unity Baptist Church in Washington on July 26, 2021. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Ross bemoaned new laws that he said \u201ccriminalize\u201d good faith mistakes or decisions by election workers.<\/p>\n<p>A marked increase in voter eligibility challenges is something he also decried.<\/p>\n<p>Florida\u2019s elimination of most unstaffed ballot-return drop boxes and ballot harvesting; the banning of \u201cdrive-thru\u201d voting in Texas; and states requiring state-issued ID card numbers or partial social security numbers on absentee ballot application and return envelopes, were cited by Ross as examples of voter suppression.<\/p>\n<p>The creation of the new Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security, and the resultant arrest of 20 ex-convicts for allegedly voting in the 2020 election also drew his ire.<\/p>\n<p>Ross said Republicans used \u201cfalse concerns\u201d about voter fraud to justify the barriers to the ballot and even as a pretext for violence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFalse rhetoric regarding stolen elections \u2026 encouraged the Jan. 6\u00a0insurrection,\u201d which, according to Ross was \u201ca violent attack on the Capitol that sought to bring an end to democracy in our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the next stage of the backlash over losing the 2020 election came in the form of a wave of restrictive voting laws.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3994334\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/09\/13\/New-Project-1200x675.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Congressman Joe Morelle, who represents New York\u2019s 25th Congressional District, in an undated file photo. (Courtesy of Joe Morelle)<\/figure>\n<p>Ranking member Joe Morelle (D-New York) faulted Republicans for buying into former President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cBig Lie\u201d about a stolen election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey only accept the results when they win.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no evidence of widespread fraud. The 2020 election was the most secure election in U.S. history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Committee member Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) said false claims that the election was rigged \u201cdid harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She accused Republicans of using allegations of fraud to \u201croll back progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Democrat \u2018Election Deniers\u2019 Highlighted<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Witness Scot Turner, of Eternal Vigilance, a public interest non-profit, and a former Georgia state representative, told the committee: \u201cThe greatest threat to our constitutional republic is misinformation and disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Turner reminded the committee that Democrat Hillary Clinton was not above falsely claiming that the 2016 election was stolen from her by the Russians.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, he said an evident turn in the attitude of politicians and the public about the fairness of our elections began in Georgia in 2018 when the Democrat candidate for governor, Stacey Abrams, refused to concede she lost the election to Republican Brian Kemp.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4408558\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/04\/16\/stacey-abrams-in-washington-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams speaks in Washington on April 6, 2022. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAbrams refusal to concede changed the environment,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n<p>Recent election reform in Georgia has \u201cvastly improved\u201d the voting experience, according to Turner.<\/p>\n<p>Executive director of the Lawyers Democracy Fund Lisa Dixon testified that the nation is facing a crisis of voter confidence. She said that is significant because the peaceful transfer of power rests on that confidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe careless handling of ballots decreases voter confidence,\u201d stated Dixon.<\/p>\n<p>She said people trust their local election officials more than those higher up the chain.<\/p>\n<p>The establishing of clear rules well ahead of the election, accurate registration rolls, transparency, and consistency in following the laws are very important to maintaining trust in the system, according to Dixon.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Truth?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Morelle blamed Republicans for creating the \u201calleged lack of confidence.\u201d He said some are sowing doubt in elections \u201cfor their own profit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stated he was \u201ctroubled by the lack of truth\u201d in the series of hearings conducted thus far and was having trouble understanding their purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Committee member Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said Washington is the \u201ccapital of misinformation and disinformation.\u201d He referred to the city as the fantasy kingdom of \u201cOz.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loudermilk recalled how Barack Obama had mischaracterized a very positive Georgia election reform bill as \u201cJim Crow 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Partisan Divide<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) commented, \u201cConspiracy theories make it hard for local election officials to get the truth to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Referring to the House Republicans\u2019 proposed budget plan and its impact on the conduct of elections, she wondered aloud about \u201cwhat damage they have in store for the American people?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Subcommittee chair Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) asserted that the states have primary authority in determining their election laws and administering elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe role of Congress is secondary. It involves support and oversight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to examine areas of improvement and empower states,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen states go amuck, what should happen?\u201d asked Sewell.<\/p>\n<h2>Recent Record Turnouts<\/h2>\n<p>Why voter turnout has set records despite all of t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe 2022 election failed black voters,\u201d said National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attorney Deuel Ross in a May 24 Congressional subcommittee hearing on elections. Ross testified that since the 2020 election 400 bills were introduced in state legislatures around the country to \u201crestrict the franchise.\u201d He said 24 states had actually<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":1939396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[3755,4490,3728,7741,10138,6982,6459,6993],"class_list":["post-1939395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-calls","tag-congressional","tag-election","tag-red","tag-reforms","tag-suppression","tag-voter","tag-witness"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1939395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1939396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1939395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1939395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1939395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}