Bill Posey: “I thank the gentleman for yielding the opportunity to speak about H.R. 1. You have heard it called the ``Welfare for…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding the opportunity to speak about H.R. 1. You have heard it called the ``Welfare for Politicians Act''; you have heard it called the ``Democrat Politician Protection Act''; and you have heard it called a very partisan proposal to hijack elections. I think it may be all those things. Historically, elections are based on three principles: number one is fairness to everybody who votes, number two is that every vote counts, and number three is that every voter should have the assurance or the confidence that their vote was counted equally and was not compromised in one way or the other. This bill does none of those things. If it did, and if it was at all fair, it would have bipartisan support. In 2000, after the contentious election between Bush and Gore, I was chairman of the elections committee in the Florida Senate and charged with reforming the election laws. Working with the minority leader at the time, Steve Geller, we did some historic things. We pioneered the provisional ballot. We pioneered early voting. We got rid of punch cards and went to precinct-based optical scanners that they said would cost Republicans 100,000 votes statewide. It seems like the Republicans knew how to vote and the other side didn't. We did those things because it was fair and it was the right thing to do.…”