H.R. 5746: Freedom to Vote Act

This bill is nearly identical to the “Corrupt Politicians Act,” and as such, would impose several mandates on states, dictating how they must run their elections. This endeavor to federalize elections is an attempt to, among other things, influence elections, voter qualifications, and redistricting, as well as even provide a match of public funds to certain candidates’ campaigns.

Although there are several troubling provisions of this legislation, perhaps one of the most concerning provisions come in Division B, Title VI, Subtitles A, and B. These two provisions are specifically designed to steamroll the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) to stifle speech protected by the First Amendment.

Subtitle A is known as the DISCLOSE Act. This is a thinly veiled attempt to reveal the names of donors to 501(c)(4) organizations in an era where the “cancel culture” mob has become the norm. Unmasking private citizens in the manner this bill proposes could dissuade generations of Americans from making the bold stands necessary to improve our nation.

Subtitle B is the Honest Ads Act. The bill is framed with careful messaging, such as stopping foreign influence in American elections through ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The bill, however, is far broader.

For example, the bill would expand the definition of a “qualified political advertisement” to include “a message relating to any political matter of national importance,” such as mentioning “a candidate” or “a national legislative issue of public importance.”

The Honest Ads Act would require digital platforms to maintain, and make publicly available, a database of any request to purchase a “qualified political advertisement” that exceeds $500. Again, this would include advertisements on legislative issues pending before Congress, which may not even mention a candidate. This public file would also include the contact information of the purchaser. This would open almost all political advertisers to widespread intimidation.

The Freedom to Vote Act is among the most dangerous pieces of legislation that Congress will consider over the next two years. It’s rife with unconstitutional provisions that threaten the very fabric of our republic. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “A republic, if you can keep it.” With this bill, it is evident that Democrats do not want to keep it. They want to destroy it.