Former Vice President Mike Pence is breaking his silence on election integrity for the first time since leaving office.
In an op-ed published by the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, Pence railed against voting irregularities and instances of officials setting aside state election law.
“That’s why when I was serving as presiding officer at the joint session of Congress certifying the Electoral College results, I pledged to ensure that all objections properly raised under the Electoral Count Act would be given a full hearing before Congress and the American people,” Pence wrote.
He continued, “The tragic events of Jan. 6 — the most significant being the loss of life and violence at our nation’s Capitol — also deprived the American people of a substantive discussion in Congress about election integrity in America.”
Pence acknowledged legislators in several states have begun working on election reform.
He explained, “Unfortunately, congressional Democrats have chosen to sweep those valid concerns and reforms aside and to push forward a brazen attempt to nationalize elections in blatant disregard of the U.S. Constitution.”
Pence expressed his frustration with an election overhaul billed called “For the People Act.”
He argued it would “increase opportunities for election fraud, trample the First Amendment, further erode confidence in our elections, and forever dilute the votes of legally qualified eligible voters.”
The bill would require states to adopt universal mail-in ballots, early voting, same-day voter registration, online voter registration.
“Leftists not only want you powerless at the ballot box, they want to silence and censor anyone who would dare to criticize their unconstitutional power grab,” the former president claimed.
Pence reiterated the only goal of the proposed changes in the legislation is to “give leftists a permanent, unfair, and unconstitutional advantage in our political system.”
He called the bill “unconstitutional, reckless, and anti-democratic.”
Pence concluded, “Every citizen deserves the freedom to support, oppose, criticize, or promote the candidates and causes they believe in.”
He continued, “And most importantly, the American people must have the utmost confidence that every voice matters, and every vote counts — or democracy cannot survive.”