WASHINGTON, DC – Over 150 conservative leaders nationwide released a “Memo to the Movement” from the Conservative Action Project on Monday, declaring that they are opposed to the Democrats’ kick-off legislation H.R. 1, which would profoundly shift elections toward liberal candidates and open the door to rampant voter fraud, calling Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill “the ultimate fantasy of the left.”
“Conservatives are united in opposing H.R. 1, the attempt by House Democrats to fundamentally undermine the American electoral system,” the Memo begins.
It explains several key features of Pelosi’s inaugural legislation, outlining how it is designed to ensure that a liberal Democrat wins the White House in 2020 and the Left gains unified control of Congress and well as take over state governments.
The Democrats’ bill violates the First Amendment. It restricts political speech and election activities in several ways that the U.S. Supreme Court has made crystal clear violates the Constitution, such as groups’ pooling resources to take out ads on the issues those groups advocate.
Pelosi’s legislation is a massive federal power grab away from the states. The Constitution gives primary authority to the sovereign states to conduct elections. This bill empowers the federal government to micromanage elections by requiring states to get “preclearance” from Washington, D.C., before changing their election procedures.
H.R. 1 also mandates countless millions of taxpayer dollars be given to candidates for their campaigns, requiring citizens to fund candidates who those citizens actually oppose for office.
The Memo highlights several other features of the bill, including:
- Forces all states to allow all convicted felons to vote.
- Requires all states to allow same-day voter registration, which leads to voter fraud.
- Makes it difficult for a state to discover if a voter is also voting in another state.
- Prevents states from limiting early voting.
- Prevents states from limiting voting by mail.
- Requires all states to provide free mail-in absentee ballots.
- Criminalizes political speech that the government deems “discouraging” to voters who are statistically more likely to vote Democrat.
- Takes redistricting away from elected leaders to give to left-leaning commissions.
Many of these items are statistically more likely to increase Democrat and liberal votes over Republican and conservative votes. For example, most felons vote for Democrats, and people who do not register to vote until the last minute lean left as well.
Others increase the odds of voter fraud and intimidation. The most secure method of voting is in a government building on Election Day. Early voting, voting by mail, automatically registering people to vote when they get s driver’s license, and allowing a person to register for the first time on Election Day, are each more susceptible to fraudulent votes or for voters to be intimidated regarding who they should vote for.
Moreover, electioneering messages that are said to “discourage” voting are typically conservative messages that various left-wing minority voter groups attack as “voter suppression.” Making such messages a federal crime creates the possibility of conservative groups being prosecuted by the U.S. government, chilling their willingness to participate in elections at all.
A constellation of 154 national conservative stars signed the Memo to the Movement, including:
Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General of the United States
Alfred Regnery, Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador
Jim DeMint, former U.S. Senator and President of the Heritage Foundation
David McIntosh, President, Club for Growth and former Member of Congress
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council and Council for National Policy
L. Brett Bozell, III, President, Media Research Center
Ken Cribb, former White House Domestic Policy Advisor to President Reagan
Charles Cooper, former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Legal Counsel
Bob McEwan, former Member of Congress
Marjorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List
Tom Fitton, President, Judicial Watch
Matt Schlapp, Chairman, American Conservative Union
Jenny Beth Martin, Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
Stuart Epperson, Chairman, Salem Media Group
David Bozell, President, For America
Curt Levey, President, Committee for Justice
Hans von Spakovsky, former Commissioner, Federal Election Commission
Susan Carleson, CEO, American Civil Rights Union
Christian Adams, President, Public Interest Legal Foundation
Bill Walton, Chairman, CNP Action
Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (ret.), Executive Vice President, Family Research Council
Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform
Gary Bauer, President, American Values
James Miller III, former Director, White House Office of Management and Budget
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
Tom McClusky, President, March for Life Action
Myron Ebell, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Gary Marx, President, Madison Strategies
Diana Bannister, President, Shirley & Bannister
Cleta Mitchell, Attorney
Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment
Sal Russo, Co-Founder, Tea Party Express
Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness
Mario Lopez, President, Hispanic Leadership Fund
- Read the full Memo here.
Ken Klukowski is senior legal editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski.