The Search For An Honest Election

It seems as if much of the worrying about an honest election is on one side of the aisle. However, one Democrat is taking the concern seriously and doing something about it. Just the News posted an article (updated today) about Representatives Tulsi Gabbard (a Democrat from Hawaii) and Representative. Rodney Davis, ( a Republican from Illinois) sponsoring a bill that seeks to outlaw the practice of ballot harvesting, a growing practices especially among Democrats in which third parties distribute and collect ballots in an effort to grow the vote.

The bill is HR8285. The Congressional website describes the bill as follows (I am not giving the specific address because the links expire–just put in the bill number to find more information):

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit payments under such Act to States which permit ballot harvesting, and for other purposes.

The text and summary of the bill are not yet available. The website reports that HR 8285 was introduced on September 17, 2020 and referred to the House Committee on House Administration on that date.

The article at Just the News reports:

Their bill would cut federal funding from states that don’t ban ballot havesting. “No one should get between a voter and the ballot box,” Gabbard said.

…In an accompanying video message, Gabbard said ballot harvesting “allows for abuse from third parties collecting and mishandling ballots” and “poses a serious threat to the integrity of our elections.”

The Democrats control the House of Representatives. It will be interesting to see if this bill ever makes it out of committee. Meanwhile, I am grateful for a Democrat that is at least willing to make an effort to deal with the problem.