McConnell blocks two election security bills

SNIP
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked two election security measures on Thursday, arguing Democrats are trying to give themselves a "political benefit."

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had tried to get consent Thursday to pass a House bill that requires the use of paper ballots and includes funding for the Election Assistance Commission. It passed the House 225-184 with one Republican voting for it.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also asked for consent to pass legislation that would require candidates, campaign officials and their family members to notify the FBI of assistance offers from foreign governments.
ENDSNIP

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/454742-mcconnell-blocks-two-election-security-bills

Yes folks, requiring paper ballots and notifying the FBI of assistance offers from foreign governments is now considered a partisan issue by Trumpublicans....

Face it, guys.... Somehow, McConnell is just as un-American as Bob Mueller determined our president is... The Democrats in the House are passing bills right and left and McConnell just sits there with his finger up his......................... nose?

We have to vote these traitors out of office in 2020..... It's no longer a nice-to-have... It's the only way we are going to keep our country fully out of the hands of foreigners (like Trump and McConnell)...

What say ye?

 

As is normal in today's news cycle, we seldom get the whole story. One thing I noticed was that almost everybody that was reporting on this story did not bother to list the House bill numbers so that people could research exactly what the bills said. It took a bit of digging, but I believe I found the 2 bills being discussed. (Caveat: I did not have time to really digest either bill, so this is just my initial thoughts)

The second bill is the most easiest to address, so I will start there. The bills that Blumenthal asked for consent to pass is H.R. 2424 (in the House) or S. 1247 (in the Senate). These two bills have the exact same wording. They were both introduced back in late April, and they both appear to still be in committee. After reading the bill, I did not really see anything wrong with the bill itself and it appeared fairly logical.....until you get down to the last Section. This last Section basically says that any information reported on foreign entities trying to influence our elections can not be used to deport people in our country illegally. I really need to question the motives behind this Section. Are they saying "hey, report them, but if they are in the country illegally, we can not use it to deport them....even though they tried to influence our elections"?

Link to H.R. 2424

The Bill requiring paper ballets is not as simple as some people are trying to pass it off as. There is much more to this bill than just paper ballets. As far as i can tell, this Bill is H.R. 1. It includes things like allowing 16 year olds to vote. Allowing registration to vote via the internet. Automatic voter registration. Same day voter registration. Redistricting. And much, much more. There are many things in this Bill that are attractive....and yet many parts that are not. However, it certainly is not just about paper ballets.

Link to H.R. 1

I will admit that it is possible I have the wrong bills. The lack of information provided makes it very hard to find the bills that are being specifically discussed. However, these are bills that fit the criteria, as explained.

 

Bless you for doing the groundwork to debunk the OP.

You killed this thread with your reply. Dead at post #2, that's got to be a record.

 

Great job on the research, I concur, I think you have identified the correct pieces of legislation. And as is the case in so many things about democratic policy, there are always really awful gotchas in them, and of course, media won't spend two seconds considering the idea that the bills themselves are patently unconstitutional and wouldn't stand up to the first court case unless pushed under the nose of one of their pet judges. But it makes for great theater and media et al and of course folks like Egoboy to stand up and hyperventilate about obstructionist republicans. Ignorance is such an unattractive condition....

 

Forget the OP for a moment and focus on the fact that there is a mixed bag of support for moves that would secure the election process. Why aren't we discussing election security as much as we are OOJ with respect to the Mueller testimony? Take partisanship out of it - this country is hiding its collective head in the sand about it!

 

I mean, would it be that difficult to negotiate removing that one clause? Why block them outright?

 

Thanks for researching these poison pill bills.

McConnell is right in killing these bills.

 

I agree. Voting is THE most important aspect of our society. With the right to vote, and an honest and fair system, we are citizens. Without it, we are subjects.

However, these bills are not the answer as they are written.

 

I would simply remind you that paper ballots are what democrats stuff boxes with when they fear they might lose an election. How is what they have proposed either a) effective at reducing Russian influence, or b) adding more democratic control of gerrymandering to benefit their party better for the rest of the nation?

The facts are that democrats aren't actually interested in making elections more secure, just more malleable for them to interfere and decide outcomes for.

 

Well, as I pointed out, HR 2424 appear to still be in committees. It is really premature to vote on it's passage at this time.

 

The house Democrats already know what's wrong with the fricking bills.

All the house Democrats have to do is remove the poison pill portions of the bills, get a strong bipartisan vote in the house and then send them back to the senate.

 

So, then, what would you suggest be done?

 

True. I would like to see these passed though. Good job on the deep dive though.

 

One thing. That's not exactly a 'poision pill'. Though I do agree that it should be removed.

 

Also, I would like to point out the missed opportunity for your Handle to be Nunya B.

So when people ask what the B stands for, you can say Business.

Anyway, carry on

 

I have been using Nunya for a long time. On another forum I use to haunt, my user name was Nunya D. Biznes. When I signed up here, I just used my first name and middle initial (don't remember why).....but yeah, I think Nunya B. might have been better. TBH, I would rather it was just Nunya, but I think that was used already.

 

I would require detailed citizenship documentation be provided in order to be given a voter registration card, and that once you have one, you have to produce a state produced ID when you go to your polling place. I would tell democrats that if they want to change the constitution so that 16 yos can vote, they need to start the constitutional amendment process..

I would then offer the following. Voting machines be entirely digital but never connected to the internet, that counts be collected locally and verified, by machine creating a digital forensic record of the votes cast per machine. No more hinkie local paper provisionals, if folks want to vote they should plan on getting registered and doing the necessary steps prior to just showing up. I would also make it necessary to produce proof of citizenship and jurisdiction for absentee ballots. And I'd also make the polls available for early voting and not allow those machines to be collected until the actual election period is over so we don't get "warnings" or pre election indicators of which way the votes are going.

 

I'd have no problems removing that last section of the bill either, but I don't think it should be a deal killer... It just doesn't seem it belongs to a bill about reporting election interference...

However, with the way the Trump administration handles immigration, that section probably needs to be added to all bills being considered at this time, but again I'd have no problem with it being removed to get the main focus of the bill in play.

 

Thank you for your considered response.

 

Remember the paper ballots at the airport.

https://twitter.com/TonyNBC6/status...t-lauderdale-airport-contained-blank-ballots/

 

Outside of the name what is in the bills?

 

If only there was some process where the senate can make changes to a bill and send it back to the house.
Oh wait, thats exactly how it works lol

 

Imagine that they added things to said bills and then try to pass them off as something simple.

 

Its a poision pill both sides do this and its disgusting.

 

So why doesn’t the senate take it out, pass it and send them back?