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Rep. Lesko Warns Against Federalizing Elections: ‘You Have to Think About What You Wish For’

Seeds of Liberty: Remembering the Mayflower Compact

The year 2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims in the New World. It’s also the quadricentennial of what came to be called the Mayflower Compact. Aware that they had landed far north of their intended destination of Virginia and were therefore under the jurisdiction of no government, the Pilgrims feared that their new colony might disintegrate without government of some sort. Moreover, not all of those who arrived with them shared their religious beliefs, which they suspected might also lead to disharmony. And so, while still aboard the Mayflower, the leaders of this group drafted and signed a short compact, a covenant establishing a way to “enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall…

Rep. Lesko Warns Against Federalizing Elections: ‘You Have to Think About What You Wish For’

The Democrats’ latest push to federalize the election process currently administered by the states would also take away many of the safeguards that ensure election integrity, warned Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.).

The effort to pass H.R. 1聽has recently been renewed amid criticism of the chaos that has taken place in multiple states which conducted the election differently based on their own rules. Championed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the 600-page bill aims to overhaul the nation’s decentralized election system, giving the federal government more authority over how states run elections.

“I’m a big believer in states’ rights, so I’m not a big proponent of federalizing our elections,” Lesko told The Epoch Times’ American Thought Leaders program. “I think every state has different circumstances, and every state elects their own election directors as we do here in Arizona.”

“I think it would be a mistake to federalize our elections,” said the congresswoman. “You kind of have to think about what you’re wishing for, because if the Democrats get in control, they will put in a terrible nationwide system.”

Rep. Lesko Warns Against Federalizing Elections: ‘You Have to Think About What You Wish For’ Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) speaks during a House Rules Committee hearing on the impeachment against President Donald Trump, on Dec. 17, 2019. (Anna Moneymaker/AFP via Getty Images)

According to Lesko, what the Democrats want to do with H.R. 1 is create a one-size-fits-all government plan for elections, without taking into consideration what local citizens believe is best for their counties or states.

Lesko took Arizona, her home state, as an example. “In Arizona, the voters, through a ballot measure years ago, said that voters have to prove they’re really the person that they are, voting, and show an ID to vote,” she said. “H.R. 1 would prohibit states from requiring ID to vote, which is terrible.”

“Also in Arizona, we pass legislation that says it’s illegal to harvest ballots, meaning people can’t go to apartment complexes or nursing homes and pick up other people’s ballots,” Lesko continued. “Well, H.R. 1 would undo that too, and say, ‘Oh, no, ballot harvesting is totally legal.’”

The Republicans, according to Lesko, will need to retain Georgia’s two Senate seats in order to be able to block Democrats from achieving radical changes such as H.R.1. The two Republican-held seats were sent into January runoffs after none of this year’s candidates reached the 50 percent of the vote needed to win.

“There’s all kinds of liberal bills that the U.S. House of Representatives has already passed under Pelosi’s control, and they’re very radical,” she said. “Most people don’t even realize how radical they are. And if Republicans lose the Senate, all of this stuff is going to be the law of the land, and the future of our nation is going to change to the worse.”

Follow Jan on Twitter: @JanJekielek

Focus News: Rep. Lesko Warns Against Federalizing Elections: ‘You Have to Think About What You Wish For’

Five Eyes: China Running a ‘Concerted Campaign’ to Silence Critics in Hong Kong

The allied Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK, as well as the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) actions in Hong Kong in a rare joint statement published Thursday. The Five Eyes foreign representatives declared that Beijing was running a “concerted campaign to silence all critical voices” in Hong Kong and that the CCP had breached the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration for the third time when it disqualified elected legislators in Hong Kong last week. The communist regime had previously breached the Joint Declaration, the allies said, with the imposition of the national security law and its postponement of the Legislative Council elections in September.  “China’s action is a clear breach of its international obligations,” the statement said. “The…