The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) launched a new task force to address election integrity earlier this month. ALEC drafts model legislation for state legislators to propose around the country, such as the Safeguard American Votes and Election Act stopping Ranked Choice Voting, and its new Process and Procedures Task Force intends to expand these efforts.
West Virginia State Senator Patricia Rucker (R-Jefferson, 16) (pictured above, right), the chair of ALEC, and Lisa B. Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of ALEC (pictured above, left), published an op-ed in the Daily Caller on Wednesday announcing the task force. In an article titled, “We’re Going To Protect Elections Whether The Left Likes It Or Not,” they said the task force will “develop trusted policy solutions to ensure elections work for the American people.”
The pair cited a recent poll showing “75% support requiring photo ID to vote and 84% want states to routinely remove deceased, relocated, or non-citizens from the voter rolls.”
They went on, “Elections are about more than counting ballots — they’re about preserving the American Dream. The ballot box is where free people shape their future. If we lose faith in that process, we lose faith in the outcome, and that is the first step toward losing faith in the republic.”
The two warned about pushback. “Critics will promote familiar sob stories,” they said. “The same critics who denounced Georgia’s 2021 election reforms as ‘voter suppression’ only to watch record-high turnout prove them wrong. The narrative collapsed, but the facts remained. Stronger safeguards did not keep voters away; they brought them out.”
Nelson said in the original announcement, “It’s time to safeguard the electoral process through the principles of federalism, transparency, and constitutional integrity. For more than a decade, we’ve watched the rise of misinformation, media manipulation, and coordinated campaigns designed to undermine faith in elections. Now is time to act.”
With Congress often in gridlock over election legislation, states have stepped up to fill the void. The Constitution gives primary authority over elections to the states. Article I, Section 4, Clause 1, states, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.” Additionally, Article II, Section 1 provides that states appoint electors for presidential elections “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.”
The task force will not only focus on elections, but “will tackle the places where the rules of the game could change the outcome,” the op-ed said.
ALEC has been peripherally connected to election integrity. On January 5, 2021, 30 ALEC legislators from battleground states, including many from Arizona, signed a letter to Vice President Mike Pence urging him not to certify the 2020 election results over illegal election activity in those states. Previous Arizona Senate President Karen Fann chaired ALEC, and pushed for election integrity measures, including the Senate’s audit of the 2020 election. State Senator T.J. Shope (R-Florence) currently serves on the board of ALEC and is the state chair for ALEC.
Arizona was one of several battleground states that proposed election legislation in 2021 after the botched 2020 election. ALEC partners with the Honest Elections Project to offer sessions for lawmakers.
Arizona has led with ALEC legislation. ALEC ranked Arizona second after Florida for educational freedom this year, in large part due to the state enacting ALEC recommended legislation. ALEC recognized Arizona along with West Virginia as the first states to adopt universal Education Freedom Account (EFA) programs. Previously, Arizona was the first state to create an education savings account (ESA) program.
Similarly, Arizona was the first state to pass an ALEC-drafted law ending union release time. It blocks future and existing public employer contracts that provide public employees with “paid leave or any form of compensation for the purposes of engaging in union activities.”
USA Today and The Arizona Republic found that “bills based on ALEC models were introduced nearly 2,900 times, in all 50 states and the U.S. Congress, from 2010 through 2018, with more than 600 becoming law.” This represents a 21 percent success rate. According to Vox, about one quarter of all state legislators in the country have been members of ALEC.
ALEC was founded in 1973 as the Conservative Caucus of State Legislators. It was renamed the American Legislative Exchange Council and moved to Washington, D.C. under the leadership of Paul Weyrich, who helped found the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to .
Photos “State Senator Patricia Rucker” and “Lisa B. Nelson” by ALEC.
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