The Honorable Brian Steil, Chair
The Honorable Joe Morelle, Ranking Member
Committee on House Administration
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Steil and Ranking Member Morelle,
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I am writing to express our strong opposition to the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, which will be marked up in the Committee on House Administration later this week. Contrary to its title, this legislation is an anti-voter bill that will fundamentally weaken our democracy.
ACE Act proponents continue to rely on falsehoods about purported election fraud to justify the legislation’s anti-voter and anti-democratic provisions. The bill would nationalize numerous voter ID laws that are not only unnecessary, but will disproportionately affect Black, Latino, Indigenous, senior, and low-income voters. It would grant partisan poll watchers unrestricted access to the polls, opening the door for potential voter intimidation and harassment of local election administrators and poll workers. Even worse, partisan politicians would be granted the authority to dismiss non-partisan election officials based on frivolous accusations.
By imposing caps on funding allocated to election administrators, the bill would impede their ability to maintain up-to-date voter lists, modernize election systems, and ensure the administration of safe, transparent, and accessible elections.
This legislation also represents an unwarranted federal government intrusion into the governance of Washington, D.C. by overriding local election laws intended to expand and strengthen democracy. In particular, the ACE Act would limit mail ballot requests, the use of drop boxes, provisional voting and same day registration. Without any evidence of voter fraud, there is absolutely no justification for singling out this jurisdiction to restrict voter access.
Congress has an important role in safeguarding the integrity of our electoral process and the freedom to vote. The ACE Act, however, would do the opposite, as well as undermine public confidence in our elections. We urge you to oppose the ACE Act when it comes before your Committee next week.
Sincerely,
William Samuel
Director, Government Affairs