By Lewis Morris · Jan. 15, 2019

If at first you don’t succeed, change the rules of the game so that you can. This has been the modus operandi of the Democrat Party for a long time, and Dems are again putting it to work with their new House majority.

HR 1, the first bill to be introduced in the new session, has been euphemistically called the For the People Act. Its full title is, get this, “To expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and for other purposes.”

This so-called voter-reform bill was introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), and Democrats are hoping to use it to fundamentally change (there’s that phrase again) America’s voting and campaign-finance system.

How does it work? Spoiler alert — it’s totally rigged to tip the scales in favor of a putting a leftist government in permanent power in the U.S.

The first big thing the bill does is centralize the whole voting process at the federal level, cherry-picking state election laws that have created Democrat fiefdoms in deep blue states and making them national. One of the great strengths of the American voting system has always been that it is controlled by the individual states. But a socialist takeover of a country is harder when each state has its own say in how it elects public officials.

Under Democrats’ plan, states will be forced to implement mandatory voter registration. This means that anyone on any government list for, say, receiving welfare subsidies or possessing a driver’s license, would automatically be registered to vote. Every person in America who is on the government dole would be a voter, instantly. This will help preserve the entitlement system because everyone who is on it can easily vote for the politicians (Democrats) who offer the most lavish and generous continuity.

States will also be forced to allow convicted felons to vote. It used to be that committing a felony meant that you lost your right to vote. Break the social contract and there will be consequences. Not anymore. Some blue states literally roll voting machines into prisons. Under HR 1, that would be a national phenomenon. Once again, this will work largely to the benefit of Democrats.

Early voting would be extended, giving Democrats time to locate and bring voters to the polls. Early voting went from being a convenience for busy citizens to a way of pushing uninformed people to record their votes before they can learn all the information that might help them make an intelligent decision in the voting booth.

HR 1 mandates same-day voter registration, which will prevent election boards from determining whether someone is eligible to vote. It will also add chaos on Election Day, which makes it easier to commit voter fraud.

The bill also restores the Justice Department’s power to approve or deny election-law changes at the state level. Commonly known as “preclearance,” this oversight power was used during the civil-rights era to prevent Southern states from systematically denying blacks the right to vote. It was ruled unconstitutional in 2012 in Shelby County v. Holder, with the Supreme Court finding that there was no longer a need for the federal government to lord over state voting laws.

Restoring “preclearance” would allow the Justice Department to negate any state law that would prevent voter fraud or protect the Rule of Law. That may not be a problem under President Donald Trump, but it would be under a President Kamala Harris or Cory Booker.

It’s no coincidence that of all the issues Democrats wanted to tackle this session, this voting law would be the first out of the gate. All the other plans that Democrats have in store to mutate the United States into a socialist enclave won’t stick unless they have the support of the people. Their hold on the media isn’t strong enough. They need more votes. HR 1 provides that.

And, oh, by the way, they’re “fixing” a system they’ve been shouting is broken for the last two years.

Don’t be lulled by the fact that this bill will never make it out of the Senate, or past President Trump’s desk. This is a warning shot across the bow of American federalism. It should be taken very seriously, and it should be dissected in the court of public opinion so that people will realize the threat to freedom that Democrats represent.