Listen Live

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The “For the People Act” would change the way states conduct federal elections, with new requirements, like mandated mail-in voting. Indiana’s attorney general, Todd Rokita, is against the legislation, and testified Wednesday in a Senate Committee on Rules and Administration hearing in D.C. He joined virtually.

Some Democrats, like former attorney general Eric Holder, believe the Act will make it easier to vote for people who have faced challenges voting, like people of color.

Some Republicans, like Rokita, believe the Act essentially federalizes elections, against the Constitution, and will put an end to some security requirements like voter ID, by mandating mail-in voting, and forcing the states to facilitate the new requirements at their own expense.

“The proposed changes will open up our elections to increased voter fraud and irregularities,” he said during his opening statement. Rokita cited lawsuits by states over the 2020 election, which he said was one of a kind because of the pandemic, and should remain that way.

“The 2020 election involved an effort to convert what has traditionally been Election Day in our country to a months-long process of vote gathering, ballot harvesting, last-minute rule and law changes by people not authorized to do so,” he said.

Former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder testified in support of the bill, which already passed the U.S. House.

“The fact is that there is no evidence of widespread or systemic fraud during the 2020 election, or at any other time,” said Holder. “Too many Americans, particularly people of color, face discriminatory and onerous barriers to vote. The ‘For the People Act’ is a necessary and appropriate response to both the erosion of voting rights and the advancement of special interests.”

Holder pointed out that some states are considering and passing bills that would tighten up election rules.

Rokita said the proposed new federal law would cost states money to implement the rules, like electronic registration for same-day voting, while not providing the money to pay for it. He said it federalizes the election system, which he believes is unconstitutional.

Rokita and several other attorneys general have promised to sue, if the bill passes and becomes law.