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H.R. 4 is both of these. It’s a Democrat bill titled the “Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019” which seeks to alter a good piece of legislation called the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Originally passed in 1965, the VRA sought ways to fight racial discrimination at the polls. It outlawed poll taxes for federal elections, and applied strong oversight to jurisdictions that had previously tried to implement barriers to voting such as literacy tests. So the VRA was obviously a good piece of legislation. Since 1965, the VRA has been amended multiple times by Congress, most recently in 2006.

Now, back to today’s vote in the House on the “Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019.” Who would be opposed to anything with a title like that, right? Well…

What Democrats have written into this bill would give the federal government an obnoxious level of control over the way states and local municipalities conduct their elections. In many circumstances (depending on the racial makeup of the area and various languages spoken) it would require permission from the Justice Department for things like:

• Changes to voting materials
• Consolidating or relocating a polling location
• Improving voter identification requirements

Think about this for a minute. In York County, for example, there are almost 100 polling locations. Imagine York County having to request permission from the “almighty federal government” should it want to consolidate some of those locations.

What if Sumter County wanted to relocate one of its polling locations to a better facility? With this bill, the Attorney General in Washington would need to approve that.

Should states be required to ask the Justice Department for permission to tighten the integrity of their elections with certain voter identification requirements? Of course not, but do you see where this is going?

The bottom line is that it’s not the Justice Department, but instead states and counties that are best suited to manage their own elections. Meanwhile, our courts exist to determine whether voting laws (including the VRA) are being fairly applied, and voters fairly treated. While I was unfortunately away on a pre-planned trip and unable to vote against this bill, H.R. 4 represents a federal power grab that would soon be used by liberal activists to loosen voting requirements. Fortunately this bill is not likely to get far in the Senate. Even if it does, the White House has signaled a quick veto.