Passing federal election reforms would counter GOP efforts to restrict access to voting

In keeping with COVID-19 safety restrictions, North Carolina Rep. David Price was off the House floor and alone in his Rayburn Building office when the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol occurred.

“I locked the door and waited it out,” he told me last week. “I was trying to figure out what was going on and when or if we were going to be able to complete the election count.”

The moment was stunning for anyone who cares about American democracy, but it was especially so for Price, a 17-term congressman. The Democrat from Chapel Hill, who represents the Fourth District, has long worked to encourage voting and ensure the integrity of campaign financing and elections. On Jan. 6, the election process itself came under physical assault.

By nightfall, the election count was accepted and Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Donald Trump was complete. But faith in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system has suffered a blow. Trump continues to deny the election’s outcome and most Republicans in Congress voted to reject the certified results from key states Trump lost.

Trump has now settled relatively quietly in Florida, but his supporters continue to push the myth of stolen elections. Republican state lawmakers around the nation have proposed more than 160 bills to restrict voters access to the polls. Last week, North Carolina joined the trend with a Republican bill that would roll back early voting dates and restrict absentee ballots. Clearly it’s time for a stronger federal effort to maintain fair and consistent access to voting.

“Now, some North Carolina Republicans appear to be joining their colleagues in other states to introduce voting restrictions under the guise of ‘election integrity,’ “ Price said. “The real crisis in our democracy is repeated Republican efforts to curb voting rights and make it more difficult to participate in elections.”

It’s hard to tell whether to be angry or sorry about the path Republicans are taking on elections. It is an insult to the sacrifices so many American made to win and protect the right to vote. How that is not obvious to members of the party that talks so much about freedom is a mystery. But it’s also sad to see one of the two major parties participate in its own demise. At a time when Republicans need to expand their base beyond white older voters, it is alienating young people of color by trying to stifle their participation.

Even Trump would be in a stronger political position if he had gracefully accepted the election result. He could present himself as Republican kingmaker or a candidate for president in 2024. Instead, he seems a bitter crank denying reality and attacking those Republicans who do not support his delusion. When Republicans should be moving beyond Trump, they’re indulging him.

Price, who has just published the fourth edition of his book, “The Congressional Experience,” knows how to compromise and make deals. But on elections and campaign spending, the former Duke political science professor remains a purist. His work helped shape H.R.1, the For the People Act. It would strengthen voting rights, restrict gerrymandering and expand access to the ballot. It has passed the House and is now before the Senate.

“The reform ideas I’ve worked on large and small over the years, yeah, they’ve matured and gelled into a serious proposal. I feel good about that. I wish there was more of the traditional bipartisanship to actually make some of this happen,” he said.

Price regrets the loss of Republican colleagues who thought the democratic process should be supported, not mistrusted. He hopes those kind of Republicans will come back to give democracy the balance that makes it thrive.

“It’s important for the Republican Party to turn away from this demagoguery and this cultism,” he said. “We need a responsible center-right party just as we need a responsible center-left party.”

It should be remembered that state and local Republican election officials largely resisted Trump’s efforts to change the election’s results. The GOP isn’t by nature hostile to letting the people have their say.

Bob Hall, the North Carolina voting rights advocate, recently noted that Republican voters also have benefited from changes that make voting easier and that helped the party make a strong showing in 2020.

Republicans can win elections without making it harder to vote, but if they are going to win more voters’ trust, they’ll first have to show more trust in democracy.

Barnett: 919-829-4512, nbarnett@ newsobserver.com