Boehner on GOP election laws: Partisan efforts undermine voter confidence
By Devan Cole, CNN
Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday criticized his party for recently enacting strict voting rules in states around the country, saying the “very partisan way” it’s happening will only undermine people’s confidence in the electoral process.
“What concerns me is the fact that it seems to be happening in a very partisan way. You know, people need to have confidence in the election process, and I think what gives — typically, what would give them confidence is to see a state legislature working in a bipartisan fashion to make any changes they feel that are necessary,” Boehner told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “Newsroom” when asked why Republicans have been passing restrictive voting laws.
“And so the appearance of these partisan changes, in my view, really undermine the confidence that people should have in the election process,” he added.
The comments from the former Republican leader come as state lawmakers have enacted nearly two dozen laws since the 2020 election that restrict ballot access, according to a new tally by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. But while Boehner expressed concern over the fact that Republicans have been leading the charge, he argued that the changes are “rather inconsequential.”
“Anyone who’s eligible to vote will not have a problem voting in any state. Now, again, I don’t like the way they’re going about making some of these changes,” he said.
Most of the new laws make it harder to vote absentee and by mail, after a record number of Americans voted by mail in November.
The 22 laws in 14 states mark a new record for restrictive voting laws since 2011, when the Brennan Center recorded 19 laws enacted in 14 state legislatures.
Asked by Camerota if he thought the spate of changes were helpful or harmful, Boehner noted that states typically take a look at their voting laws following an election and that the policy changes made amid the coronavirus pandemic provided more reason for them to revisit the laws on their books.
“States are going to look at this, especially with all the exceptions that were made during the 2020 election cycle as a result of the pandemic,” he said. “And as a result, every state did things a little differently, and so I think each of the states are trying to look at what happened in 2020 and figure out, you know, how best to move forward.”
The legislative push is part of a national Republican effort to restrict access to the ballot box following record turnout in the 2020 election. Republicans currently control both chambers of 30 state legislatures, including in Georgia, Arizona and Texas, where Democrats temporarily derailed a restrictive voting bill last weekend.
Boehner resigned as House speaker in late 2015 amid clashes with the growing conservative wing of the Republican Party.
CNN’s Janie Boschma contributed to this report.
