Senate Minority Leader McConnell

“The substance of this bill is common sense,” said Mr. McConnell, a member of the Rules Committee, about the legislation negotiated in recent months by a bipartisan group led by Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia. — Reported by Carl Hulse in The New York Times on Sept. 27th

Rep. Sempolinski (R-NY-23) (not a candidate for reelecton in NY-23)

“I had major concerns with the Presidential Election Reform Act. This bill raised too many red flags that I could not in good conscience vote for it. I question the constitutionality of the bill based on how it interferes with states running elections. It should also be noted that this bill opens the door for endless legal challenges and even extended voting for already completed elections. The integrity of our elections is vital, but this bill was too fundamentally flawed to be the answer.” — ERIE NEWS NOW–Friday, September 23rd 

Rep. Tenney (R-NY-22) (Now running for election in NY-24)

The partisan Presidential Election Reform Act is the latest attempt from House Democrats to stack the democratic process in their favor. House Democrats rushed this bill through the House of Representatives in a highly partisan manner without any legitimate input from Republicans. The bill text was introduced only days before tonight’s vote, and the bill never received a bipartisan hearing or markup in the committee of jurisdiction.

The reason this bill did not go through the legislative process is because it is not a serious attempt to legislate. It is nothing more than a partisan messaging bill intended to score cheap political points weeks before an election. Not only was this bill drafted with bad intentions, but it is also poor policy. The bill broadly defines a ‘catastrophic event,’ which could be used to extend balloting for up to five days after the polls close in a presidential election. It also tramples on the core principle of state sovereignty and directly contradicts the United States Constitution. The legislation also creates broad private rights of action in a backdoor effort to empower Democrat election lawyers and partisan operatives. 

If the Democrat majority in the House was serious about election integrity, it would take a cue from the House Election Integrity Caucus and focus on priorities that actually enhance the security and transparency of our elections. We should take up my bill to ban Zuckerbucks, hold states accountable for their failure to retain records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, stop President Biden from implementing an overreaching Executive Order turning federal agencies into partisan voting operations, and provide states with tools and resources to boost election security. — https://tenney.house.gov/about/my-votes-explained

If election reform passes House and Senate, I wonder if our representatives will change their tunes.