Sinclair anchor allows Republican senator to push litany of lies about For the People Act
Despite Sen. Toomey's claims, the bill wouldn't ban voter ID laws, forbid updating of voter registration rolls, or force taxpayers to fund campaigns
Written by Zachary Pleat
Published
On the June 22 edition of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s The National Desk, anchor Jan Jeffcoat failed to rebut lies her guest, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), asserted about the For the People Act, which is coming to a vote in the Senate today.
During the interview, Toomey described the bill as a “federal takeover of elections.” But Congress has always had the power, granted by the Constitution, to regulate federal elections.
Toomey also claimed the legislation “would effectively ban the use of voter ID.” But as FactCheck.org explained in March, the bill “wouldn’t ban state laws that ask voters to show identification at the polls.” Instead, the bill provides “an option for those who don’t have ID to offer a signed statement instead during federal elections,” which a law professor explained is accepted in many other contexts.
Next, Toomey said “taxpayers would have to kick in” funding to political campaigns. But the provision for matching federal campaign dollars is, as Newsweek explained in March, funded from fines paid by criminals, legal settlements, and tax violators. It’s designed to give congressional challengers a fairer chance against incumbents.
Toomey also claimed the For the People Act “forbids states under many circumstances from updating their voter registration rolls.” This is also a lie -- as FactCheck.org made clear, it bans only the common and unreliable GOP tactic of “voter caging,” or sending out mass mailings and then removing voters from the rolls if the mail couldn’t be delivered.
Lastly, Toomey complained that the bill would require states to permit the practice of collecting absentee ballots to be counted, which he refers to as “ballot harvesting.” As PolitiFact explained, this is already legal in many states and the bill would “permit a voter to designate any person” to return their completed and sealed mail-in ballot, as long as that person isn’t being paid based on the number of ballots they’re collecting.
Jeffcoat earlier this month also failed to rebut a Republican senator's similar lies about this legislation. But she's not alone -- in January, Sinclair national correspondent Kristine Frazao pushed GOP lies about voter fraud in her report on the For the People Act. And in March, Sinclair national correspondent Ahtra Elnashar whitewashed the GOP’s nationwide effort to suppress voting in her report on the bill, while also including false GOP talking points.
Citation From the June 22, 2021, edition of Sinclair Broadcast Group's The National Desk
JAN JEFFCOAT (ANCHOR): The For the People Act, a sweeping bill to overhaul federal elections, is not expected to advance in the Senate. So what is the purpose behind today’s vote? Joining us right now, Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey.
…
JEFFCOAT: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer we know is preparing to bring that bill to the floor for debate during a procedural vote later today. Democrats say they know they don’t have the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster, so what is the purpose behind today’s vote?
SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): Well, this is a little bit of political theater. The Democrats of course would like to really remake American society in so many ways. To do so, they’d have to get rid of the filibuster, so that they could jam their agenda through on a party-line vote. Today they’re going to demonstrate that Republicans will not support a federal takeover of elections that systematically gives one party a permanent advantage in American politics. The administration of elections has always been managed by the states. That's the way our federalist system has worked. And it works quite well. For many years, the Democrats have wanted to take over this. And they want to do it, you know, to give themselves a permanent advantage.
For instance in their bill, they would effectively ban the use of voter ID. Now, most people I know in Pennsylvania and frankly most states think that it's quite reasonable to ask people to show an ID when you go to vote. That would be virtually impossible under the Democrats’ bill. They also want taxpayers to fund political campaigns. Taxpayers would have to kick in $6 for every $1 of low-dollar contributions. In a state like mine, taxpayers would have to send over $30 million to politicians to run their attack ads. People don't want to be doing that. But these are the kinds of things that are in this legislation. They know it's going to fail. Then they're going to turn around and say, oh, you see, we need to change the rules of the Senate so that we can just jam things through on a party-line vote. I don't think voters are going to fall for it.
JEFFCOAT: And the voting bill, let’s just talk very quickly about some of the other things that are also in the bill. Some of the bigger highlights also require states to offer same-day registration, require states to allow at least two weeks of early voting, require states to allow voting by mail, and as you mentioned, require states to allow individuals to vote without an ID if they sign an affidavit. Now, Republicans -- go ahead.
TOOMEY: You just -- you have to sign a piece of paper and never mind about the ID. Also, it forbids states under many circumstances from updating their voter registration rolls. It requires states to permit ballot harvesting, you know, the practice by which they pay a campaign person, goes into a nursing home, and manages to come out an hour later with completely filled out ballots that might just all happen to be for one party. Look, these are -- this is the opposite of integrity in our election system. We shouldn’t be doing it.