Empire State Today

Hyperbole and overheated rhetoric have dominated US politics over the past half dozen years. Anyone with a television or smartphone knows that’s the truth. Nowhere is the anger more intense than in debates over how elections are administered across the country.

Americans have been fed a steady diet of accusations of “stolen elections” and “election fraud.” Decent people of all political stripes, however, should be able to come together and get behind serious election reform proposals that ensure all Americans have faith in our electoral system and that every legal vote is counted. Thankfully, Republicans in the US House of Representatives have crafted a smart, thoughtful, and constitutional proposal that will do just that.

This week, House Republicans are introducing the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act. This proposal seeks to enact commonsense reforms to our electoral system; Americans of all political persuasions should enthusiastically support it.

The ACE Act would enact a number of reforms that, honestly, should already be law. It would strengthen prohibitions on non-citizens voting in US elections. The US is right to protect the integrity of its elections from foreign interference, regardless of whether that interference is coming from Russian bots or resident aliens voting in US elections. In 2021, America’s largest city — New York City — even passed a law allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. That’s unacceptable, and the ACE Act ensures that state and local governments are penalized for allowing non-citizens access to American elections.

Ballot harvesting has become a common political tactic employed by unscrupulous political operatives on both sides of the political aisle. The outcome of a 2018 North Carolina Congressional race was even invalidated after it became clear that illegal ballot harvesting impacted the outcome of the race. In America, voters decide elections, not shady campaign workers with absentee ballots stuffed in their pockets. The ACE Act, wisely, would penalize states whose election laws permit ballot harvesting.

The ACE Act would enact the End Zuckerbucks Act, a proposal sponsored by New York’s own Rep. Claudia Tenney. Elections are public functions, not the playthings of billionaires who see themselves as “do-gooders.” The End Zuckerbucks Act works to exclude millionaires and billionaires from becoming the private financiers of our electoral system. Elections are the public’s business; billionaires and their checkbooks should stay out of our election boards.

Finally, the ACE Act would lift some of the restrictions and caps on fundraising by state political parties. State parties — Republican and Democratic — don’t have the freedom that super PACs enjoy in raising and spending money on behalf of favored candidates. That’s not fair. The ACE Act attempts to level this playing field by allowing state party committees to raise money at higher limits, and because of the additional responsibilities taken on by state parties (such as the maintenance of a party headquarters and the conduct of party conventions), the ACE Act allows these committees to establish separate fundraising accounts for these activities. This commonsense reform will benefit both parties and, more importantly, voters.

In our system, state governments have the primary responsibility for administering federal elections. Article I, Section 4 of the US Constitution, however, permits Congress to exercise its power over the federal elections. With the ACE Act, Congress is wisely exercising this limited power.

While there is certainly more that can and probably should be done to restore Americans’ confidence in elections, the ACE Act provides sensible, mainstream reforms that our electoral system — and our country — desperately need at this time of excessive partisan discord.