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House Republicans unveiled election legislation likely to serve as the leading response to concerns about the 2020 elections in a GOP majority, taking aim at Zuckerbucks and ballot harvesting while promoting preferred election administration in states.

Titled theAmerican Confidence in Elections Act, the bill announced by House Administration Committee ranking member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) is largely crafted around the principle that states have the primary role in elections.

That draws contrast to Democrats main election reform bill, H.R. 1, or the For the People Act, that has a long list of sweeping voter reforms and requirements.

The GOP bill establishes a standards board to serve as a best-practices forum, including on mail ballots, signature verification procedures, timely ballot counting and post-election audits.

We dont want to be H.R. 1 2.0. We want something thats going to work, Davis said at a roundtable Wednesday. Weve been able to craft a bill thats reflective of ideas from a very large and diverse set of stakeholders and that has a clear path to passing in the House of Representatives next Congress when Republicans take over the majority.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will be an original co-sponsor of the legislation, Davis said.

The bill imposes a number of requirements to ensure only eligible American citizens vote, including penalizing states ability to receive federal funds for election systems if they allow noncitizen voting in state or local elections. A federal judge last month struck down a New York City law that would have allowed noncitizen residents to vote in city elections, though Republicans have repeatedly pointed to noncitizen voting risks.

A section first introduced by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), co-chair of the Election Integrity Caucus, would prohibit 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations from directly funding election boards.

The provision is a response to GOP uproar about Zuckerbucks, a reference to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pouring millions into a nonprofit that sent money to election boards in 2020. Republicans allege that the money was used for voter communication efforts without ordinary oversight, benefited overwhelmingly Democratic precincts and funded activities that Republicans oppose like ballot drop boxes.

Taking aim at so-called ballot harvesting, the practice of allowing individuals to collect and deliver absentee ballots on behalf of other voters, the bill also prohibits states to use funds on election administration for federal offices unless it includes certain restrictions on who can collect ballots. Only postal employees, family members, household members, caregivers and authorized election officials could collect and transmit ballots for others.

Republican Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab offered an analogy when talking about the need for voter ID during the roundtable: If theres no cops watching the speed on the highway, then theres people breaking the law.

Also at the roundtable was conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who participated in a phone call between former President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) in which Trump asked Raffensperger to find enough votes so he could win the state.

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House Republicans reveal election legislation likely to be a priority in a GOP majority - The Hill

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House press aide, had plenty of important insights to share during her Jan. 6 committee hearing testimony. Consider, for example, her comments about the then-presidents tweet targeting then-Vice President Mike Pence.

At a time when Pences life was in danger, that tweet was potentially giving the green light to these people, Matthews said. Telling them that what they were doing by entering the Capitol was OK and that they were justified in their anger. He shouldnt have been doing that. He should have told people to go home and condemned the violence that we were seeing.

The Republican staffer also explained that, after seeing Donald Trumps mid-riot anti-Pence tweet, she spoke to then-White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, making the case that the then-president should condemn the violence and disperse the crowd.

As NBC News reported, McEnany agreed and went into the dining room to see Trump, only to return soon after and say that he didnt want to include any mention of peace in a tweet.

CNBC reported that Matthews quickly faced partisan pushback from House Republicans.

The official House Republicans Twitter account called GOP congressional employee Sarah Matthews just another liar and pawn in [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosis witch-hunt during the hearing, where she was testifying. That tweet about Matthews, who had worked as a Trump White House press aide, was soon deleted. So was another House Republicans tweet referring to hearing: This is all heresy.

So, a few things.

First, Sarah Matthews currently works for House Republicans. When the House GOP conference, during the hearing, described her just another liar and pawn, the party was referring to one of their own staffers. (A spokesperson later told Politico the tweet was sent out at the staff level and was not authorized, though Im not sure how much that helps.)

Second, Im going to hope the House GOP meant hearsay, not heresy.

Third, Republicans have been a bit too cavalier in throwing around hearsay in response to the hearings in ways that are legally dubious.

But even putting all of these relevant details aside, these unfortunate and deleted missives from last night served as a timely reminder that (a) House Republicans are still desperate to defend Trump amidst devastating Jan. 6 revelations; and (b) theyre not exactly coming up with grade-A material.

Indeed, it appears House Republicans have been reduced to telling the public not to trust the sworn testimony of other Republicans who worked for Donald Trump some of whom currently work for them.

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."

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During Jan. 6 hearing, House Republicans target one of their own - MSNBC

At the session observed by The Atlanta Journal Constitution, trainer Jonny Moseley walked observers through a presentation that included no mention of voting fraud claims but provided detailed instructions on how to handle perceived problems.

A few dozen people attended a training workshop on poll watching that a Republican National Committee staffer conducted recently in Cumming. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

A few dozen people attended a training workshop on poll watching that a Republican National Committee staffer conducted recently in Cumming. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Moseley explicitly instructed the would-be poll watchers not to interact with voters inside or outside the polling site and to avoid confrontations. Instead, they were urged to call a GOP hotline staffed by election lawyers who are trained to intervene.

Do not ever talk to a voter, said Moseley, the RNCs Georgia election integrity director. We dont want any sort of appearance that anyone is trying to influence anyone to vote.

The effort coincides with ongoing turmoil over false claims of election fraud promoted by Trump and his allies. An AJC poll in April found about 40% of GOP voters said they lacked confidence the November elections will be conducted fairly and accurately.

The 2020 presidential election wasnt stolen. Three separate tallies of the roughly 5 million ballots upheld Democrat Joe Bidens narrow victory in Georgia, court challenges by Trump allies were quashed, and bipartisan election officials have vouched for the results.

Republican officials say their effort is already yielding results. The RNC held in-person sessions in more than 30 Georgia counties, and it has trained more than 1,500 poll watchers in the state, Moseley said. About 350 voting-related issues were resolved during the May 24 primary through a party hotline.

Poll watching has long played a crucial role in the voting process. Both parties and their allies have monitored polls in Georgia for decades to ensure workers follow rules and flag attorneys if issues arent resolved.

And the Democratic Party of Georgia, which has been engaged in observer training for decades, has expanded its voting rights initiatives after Republicans adopted a sweeping rewrite of election laws that includes new voter ID requirements and new limitations on ballot drop boxes.

But this is also somewhat new ground for the RNC, which has been blocked from training poll observers since 1982, when a consent decree essentially forced the party to rely on state parties and conservative-leaning groups to train volunteers to monitor voting sites.

After the restriction was lifted in 2018, the RNC recruited thousands of poll observers for the 2020 vote. They drew more attention following the election, however, with unsubstantiated allegations of fraud at polling sites in Georgia.

Johnny Moseley, the Georgia director for election integrity for the Republican National Committee, leads a voter integrity training workshop in Cumming. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Johnny Moseley, the Georgia director for election integrity for the Republican National Committee, leads a voter integrity training workshop in Cumming. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

For example, Republican poll watchers claimed they were told to leave State Farm Arena on election night in 2020, but state investigators found they departed on their own when they saw some election staffers leave the room. A poll watchers claim that he saw a staffer handling ballots incorrectly in Chatham County led to a lawsuit that was quickly dismissed.

At the training session, Moseley focused on how observers can work to ensure election laws are followed without interfering in the process.

They were told to arm themselves with a pen and paper to record any problems they might see because its better to have a short pencil than a long memory.

And they were urged to watch for violations of state law, such as obstructions at the polls or examples of electioneering, which prohibits people from handing out T-shirts or freebies within 150 feet of voting sites and 25 feet of a line of people waiting to cast ballots.

State and local officials see the expanded poll watching efforts as part of a system thats already under the microscope.

Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers office said the Republican is justifiably proud of Georgias election system.

Anyone who wants to see the nuts and bolts of our voting process is welcome to watch it in action, spokesman Mike Hassinger said.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office is happy to let poll watchers check on Georgia's election system. Anyone who wants to see the nuts and bolts of our voting process is welcome to watch it in action, spokesman Mike Hassinger said. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office is happy to let poll watchers check on Georgia's election system. Anyone who wants to see the nuts and bolts of our voting process is welcome to watch it in action, spokesman Mike Hassinger said. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Nancy Boren, the director of elections and voter registration in Muscogee County, said her county boasts a planned, coordinated effort to train poll watchers from both parties after receiving input from elections staff and election board members.

I view it simply as additional eyes and ears on the ground with poll watchers from both major parties participating, she said.

The training session in Cumming attracted both veteran Republican volunteers and newer faces. Among them was John Longshore, a Kennesaw State University student from Cherokee County.

Theres been a lot of finger-pointing and accusations, but Im looking ahead at 2022 and 2024, he said. I wanted to learn more about the legislative changes. This is my way of doing something about it to familiarize myself with whats happening in Georgia.

Kennesaw State University student John Longshore attended a recent training workshop for poll watchers that a Republican National Committee staffer led in Cumming. Theres been a lot of finger-pointing and accusations, but Im looking ahead at 2022 and 2024, Longshore said. I wanted to learn more about the legislative changes. This is my way of doing something about it to familiarize myself with whats happening in Georgia. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Kennesaw State University student John Longshore attended a recent training workshop for poll watchers that a Republican National Committee staffer led in Cumming. Theres been a lot of finger-pointing and accusations, but Im looking ahead at 2022 and 2024, Longshore said. I wanted to learn more about the legislative changes. This is my way of doing something about it to familiarize myself with whats happening in Georgia. (Arvin Temkar / arvin.temkar@ajc.com)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

The Republican National Committee reports that it has trained more than 1,500 poll watchers in Georgia and that its held in-person sessions in more than 30 counties.

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Inside the RNC's effort to train thousands of poll watchers in Georgia - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) The polls were closed in Iowa for less than 48 hours when South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott was shaking hands and posing for pictures with eastern Iowa Republicans at a Cedar Rapids country club last week.

Scott, one of the many Republicans testing their presidential ambitions, hardly has the state to himself.

At least a half-dozen GOP presidential prospects are planning Iowa visits this summer, forays that are advertised as promoting candidates and the state Republican organization ahead of the fall midterm elections. But in reality, the trips are about building relationships and learning the political geography in the state scheduled to launch the campaign for the party's 2024 nomination.

While potential presidential candidates have dipped into Iowa for more than a year, the next round of visits marks a new phase of the ritual. With Iowa's June 7 primary out of the way, Republicans eyeing the White House can step up their travel and not worry about stepping into the state's intraparty rivalries.

Now that its done, its full-bore," state GOP Chairman Jeff Kauffman said. "Its unfettered.

Beyond Scott, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is expected to visit late this month, and plans to campaign with as many Iowa congressional Republican candidates as she can in a little more than two days.

Haley, who is also the former governor of South Carolina, another early-voting state in the presidential calendar, plans to begin her trip in eastern Iowa on June 29 with first-term Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. She'll also headline a state GOP fundraiser in Dubuque.

Working from the Mississippi Valley westward, she plans to keynote a fundraiser for Gov. Kim Reynolds. Haley will also campaign with Zach Nunn, chosen to face two-term Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne, who is among the most vulnerable House members this year. Haley's still-fluid schedule also includes attending Rep. Randy Feenstra's annual fundraiser in GOP-heavy western Iowa.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who visited several times in 2021, is expected the first week in July to speak at the county GOP dinner in Story County in central Iowa.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has visited Iowa more often than any GOP prospect, is working out details for a late summer return, aides said, likely timed to the Iowa State Fair in August, a storied draw for would-be candidates.

Pompeo did endorse Nunn before the primary, a nod to their shared military experience, Pompeo aides said.

The plans also come in light of the Republican National Committee's unanimous decision in April to open the 2024 presidential selection sequence in Iowa, a question still hanging over Iowa Democrats.

In 2020, a smartphone app designed to calculate and report the Democratic caucuses results failed, prompting a telephone backlog that prevented the party from reporting final results for nearly a week after the Feb. 3 contest. The Associated Press announced it was unable to declare a winner after irregularities and inconsistencies marred the results.

Stripped of their automatic special status in April, Iowa Democrats are trying to salvage their leadoff spot with a plan to allow early participation by mail and streamline the sometimes time-consuming process.

With Joe Biden in the White House, Democrats with White House ambitions have largely kept their distance from Iowa.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who won the 2016 caucuses and was the final candidate to drop from the 2020 Democratic contest, was in southeastern Iowa Friday to rally support for United Auto Workers striking at a CNH agricultural machinery plant. Sanders plans, which also included a stop in southeastern Wisconsin, sparked questions about whether the 80-year-old has a third White House bid in mind. He has said he wouldnt challenge Biden if the president sought reelection, and Sanders advisers said there had been no stated changes in his plans.

On the GOP side, Scott's return was not only timely. It reflected the dual aims of these early appearances, part introduction and part demonstration of support for the local party.

The 56-year-old sketched his childhood as one influenced by grandparents who helped raise him. Of his grandfather, Scott said, For a guy who picked cotton in the 1920s, he lived long enough to watch me pick out a seat in the United States Congress.

Sprinkled with lighthearted contrasts of his Southern home and Midwestern hosts, Scott also wasted no time noting he had contributed money from his campaign fundraising account to Iowa Republican candidates, including targeted eastern Iowa GOP House freshmen members Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson.

It's going to take us all pulling together," he told a table of about 10 eating barbecue sandwiches, as he worked the dining room before the event.

Even before Scott's arrival, former Vice President Mike Pence was on the phone that day to Chairman Kauffman and Steve Scheffler, Iowa's Republican National Committeeman, to talk about the primaries and the summer ahead, they said.

Pence was planning a summer trip to Iowa, though the date was not yet confirmed, a senior aide to the former vice president said.

Notably missing from the Iowa travel schedule is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among the most often mentioned rising national Republican figures in conversations with Iowa party activists this year. DeSantis' priority is running for reelection this year, aides said.

I love DeSantis, said Emma Aquino-Nemecek, a Linn County Republican Central Committee member who attended the Tim Scott event. Can you imagine if he comes? He would pack the place."

DeSantis got within shouting distance of Iowa in September, when he helped headline a fundraiser for Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, but he did not cross the Missouri River to touch Iowa soil.

Even more notably missing from the summer schedule so far is former President Donald Trump, who staged a massive rally in Des Moines last year at the Iowa state fairgrounds, and has endorsed several Iowa Republicans.

Kauffman said he had not heard from Trumps team. Likewise, Iowa operatives for Trump did not return messages.

Still, Trump sent signals to Iowa Republicans by paying for print ads in the program circulated at the Iowa Republican Partys state convention Saturday, as did Scott, Pompeo and Florida Sen. Rick Scott.

Scheffler said non-Trump Republicans may feel emboldened in light of Georgia Republicans' resounding rejection in last month's primary elections of the former president's endorsed candidate for governor.

Gov. Brian Kemp won the GOP primary comfortably over David Perdue, whom the former president endorsed after Trump narrowly lost Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, claiming without evidence the results were invalid due to rampant voter fraud.

The speed bump for Trump's influence in the primary elections could signal to other 2024 prospects that the former president is not invincible, Scheffler said.

If Trump keeps making these endorsements and they go south, like he did in Georgia, who knows?" Scheffler said.

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By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

On June 23, the California Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to remove language in the state Constitution that allows involuntary servitude as punishment to a crime with a 21-6 vote.

The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865, prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude with one exception: if involuntary servitude was imposed as punishment for a crime.

The state of California is one of nine states in the country that permits involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment.

Article I, section 6, of the California Constitution, describes the same prohibitions on slavery and involuntary servitude and the same exception for involuntary servitude as punishment for crime.

The number of votes cast in favor of Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 3, the California Abolition Act, fell short of the two-thirds vote requirement needed to move the bill to the ballot for Californians to decide its fate in the November General Election.

The Senate is expected to hold another floor vote on the legislation this week.

Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), who authored ACA 3 in 2021 while serving in the Assembly, said she focused the language in the bill on the slavery ban and vowed to bring it back for a vote when Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, asked her about it June 23.

The CA State Senate just reaffirmed its commitment to keeping slavery and involuntary servitude in the states constitution, Kamlager tweeted.

Jamilia Land, a member of the Anti-Violence Safety, and Accountability Project (ASAP), an organization that advocates for prisoners rights, said she remains committed to making sure slavery is struck out of the California constitution.

All we needed was 26 votes, Land said. But we have made amendments to ACA 3 on (June 24). Now it could either go back to the Senate on (June 27) or Thursday, June 30.

Five Republicans and one Democrat, Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), voted against the amendment.

He stated that the issue is certainly a question worthy of debate and can be addressed without a constitutional amendment.

Slavery was an evil that will forever be a stain on the history of our great country. We eliminated it through the Civil War and the adoption of the 13th Amendment, Glazer said in a June 23 statement. Involuntary servitude though lesser known also had a shameful past. ACA 3 is not even about involuntary servitude at least of the kind that was practiced 150 years ago. The question this measure raises is whether or not California should require felons in state or local jails prisons to work.

Glazer said that the Legislative Counsels office gave him a simple amendment that involuntary servitude would not include any rehabilitative activity required of an incarcerated person, including education, vocational training, or behavioral or substance abuse counseling.

The Counsel also suggested that the amendment does not include any work tasks required of an incarcerated person that generally benefit the residents of the facility in which the person is incarcerated, such as cooking, cleaning, grounds keeping, and laundry.

Lets adopt that amendment and then get back to work on the difficult challenge of making sure our prisons are run humanely, efficiently and in a way that leads to the rehabilitation of as many felons as possible, Glazer added.

Kamlager says involuntary servitude is a euphemism for forced labor and the language should be stricken from the constitution.

The states Department of Finance (DOF) estimated that the amendment would burden California taxpayers with $1.5 billion annually in wages to prisoners, DOF analyst Aaron Edwards told Senate the Appropriations Committee on June 16.

These are facts that we think would ultimately determine the outcome of future litigation and court decisions, Edwards said. The largest potential impact is to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which currently employs around 65,000 incarcerated persons to support central prison operations such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry services.

Right before the Juneteenth holiday weekend, the appropriations committee sent ACA 3 to the Senate floor with a 5-0 majority vote after Kamlager refuted Edwards financial data.

This country has been having economic discussions for hundreds of years around slavery, involuntary servitude, and indentured servants and enslavement still exists in the prison system, Kamlager said. She also added that a conflict was fought over the moral issue of slavery.

This bill does not talk about economics. Its a constitutional amendment, Kamlager said. The (DOF) is not talking about any of this in this grotesque analysis about why it makes more sense for the state of California to advocate for and allow involuntary servitude in prisons. I think (this conversation) is what led to the Civil War.

Three states have voted to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude Colorado, Utah, and Nebraska and in all three cases, the initiative was bipartisan and placed on the ballot by a unanimous vote of legislators, according to Max Parthas, the co-director of the Abolish Slavery National Network (ASNN).

ACA 3 is already attached to a report that addresses the harms of slavery. The Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans issued its interim report to the California Legislature on June 1.

The report included a set of preliminary recommendations for policies that the California Legislature could adopt to remedy those harms, including its support for ACA 3. It examines the ongoing and compounding harms experienced by African Americans as a result of slavery and its lingering effects on American society today.

One of the preliminary recommendations in our report was to support ACA 3, said Los Angeles attorney Kamilah V. Moore, chairperson of Task Force. The Task Force saw how that type of legislation aligns perfectly with the idea of reparations for African Americans.

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COMMENTARY: Will Cassidy Hutchinson Shame Republicans to Tell the Truth? - Post News Group