Tipsheet

GOP State Leadership Committee Takes Aim at Election Reform

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) is taking aim at election integrity with a newly-formed commission on reforming elections. The committee is the umbrella organization for state-level GOP lawmakers and secretaries of state, and is largely responsible for the GOP’s dominance in statewide races  in the 2020 election.

The commission has a handful of goals in order to restore the public’s trust in the fairness of elections. Firstly, the goal is to empower individual states to customize their reforms, rather than implement “one-size fits all” mandates from lawmakers in D.C. The commission hopes to tighten restrictions on the accuracy of voter rolls, increase transparency with in-person voting, strengthen security on practices of mail-in and absentee voting, and modernize the canvassing process so that results are not pending for weeks on end.

The commission is co-chaired by Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and Michigan state Senator Ruth Johnson, both of whom hope to restore the American people’s confidence in the integrity of our electoral system.

“Increasing voter participation in this country will require thoughtful repairs to restore the public’s confidence in our elections, and we need to make the reforms necessary to regain trust in the process,” said Alabama Secretary of State and commission co-chair John Merrill. “While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to anything, every state in the nation should be working to assess and improve their respective election laws. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this commission to be a resource for the leaders across the country who are taking the necessary steps forward to improving the process.”  

The hope is that each state can individually develop reforms to election processes to fit individual needs, in order to allow easier access to voting and more barriers to entry for fraud.