Putting Lipstick on a Pig

If you put lipstick on a muddy pig you still have … a muddy pig.

Adding lipstick to a pig is what Representative Justin Boyd (R-Fort Smith) did when he amended his bill requiring Arkansas to adopt online voter registration.

Concerns over his online voter registration bill include VOTER FRAUD and the possible HACKING THE VOTER SYSTEM. To try to deflect criticism, Rep. Boyd amended his bill to make some tweaks that make his bill sound like it is about voter integrity despite his bill still putting our elections at risk.

Despite his amendment, the bill still allows for possibly more fraudulent voter registrations. Voter fraud, no signatures to vote, and potential for hacking the system are all still included in this still bad bill.

Last week Conduit published an article highlighting HB1517, an attempt to allow electronic voter registration online potentially opening up the state to more fraudulent voter registrations. Rep. Boyd promised an amendment and re-referred the bill back to committee. That amendment has now been engrossed in the bill.

Rep. Boyd has played the politics of this well. The biggest change is the title of the bill with the amendment. It is now the “Voter Integrity and Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2021.”  Giving it a new and misleading title is a ploy to try to get legislators to forget online voter registration is a danger to the integrity of our elections. He could have called it “An Act For Sunshine and Lollypops” and the bill would still oink.

His amendment added some voter integrity measures to his pig. By themselves, they are good measures but they do not change the danger from online voter registration.  The measures include: First, cross-referencing deaths with voter rolls is included.  Also checking between other states and their rolls for double registrations would take place.  Online voting confusion seems to have been resolved. However, the new misleading title and improved parts in the bill still do not make the bill good.  And it should be OPPOSED.

Why is the Bill Still Bad?

1. Electronic Sign-Ups Can Lead to More Fraud in Registration. The bill’s main focus is still allowing new voter registrations via online, electronic sign-ups.
2. Fraudulent Signatures to Vote. The bill also still allows people to sign up for the first time with an electronic signature rather than a “wet” signature.
3. Hackers! The bill still opens the door for hackers to register people fraudulently or hack the voter registration system.

The new title may sound sweet, but when you read deeper, it begins to smell. Section 9 sounds great – voter integrity – but that is what is undermined with electronic voter registration. This is all like serving a juicy steak (Section 9/Voter Integrity) on top of a pile of horse manure (electronic voter registration).  It would be great if Rep. Boyd ran Section 9 as a separate bill and allowed a separate up or down vote on the electronic registration bill.

Unfortunately, like the bait and switch method used with tax increase bills, the change in title and selling it as a “voter integrity bill” seemed to work, as the bill has now passed the House and heads to the Senate.

It will be heard by the Senate State Agencies Committee. Members and their contact info are below. Call or email them and tell them – DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE TITLE!  Vote ‘NO’ on this bill.  This bill is what Democrats want to make it easier to register potentially fraudulent voters with no signatures!

 Senate State Agencies Committee Members and Contact Information