Election law is arguably the most significant legislative battle of this moment in American history. Democrats have loosened things to the point that elections are no longer trusted or trustworthy. Republicans want to rein it back in. The battles at the state level are intense, and sometimes, as in Texas, full of hysterical theatrics.

Way back in 2002, Republicans controlled all of Washington, but Democrats clung to the hope provided them in a book called The Emerging Democratic Majority. In that book, political gurus John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira argued that demographic and economic trends meant political trends would soon favor Democrats. Indeed, it wasn’t long before Democrats took over all of Washington. But it also wasn’t long — just two years — before that unified control fell apart. Nevertheless, Democrats persist in their belief that they’re entitled to a permanent majority.

That background explains some of the motivation behind efforts like bulk-mail balloting and legislation like HR 1 and HR 4, all of which are efforts to write election rules in such a way as to guarantee Democrats win. In other words, rigging the game.

And as always, they lie about GOP efforts to counter this, characterizing Republicans as “restricting” voting rights and the like.

“Republicans have decided that the only way they can win is by preventing American citizens from voting,” Elizabeth Warren complained in June. Other Democrats level the same charge regarding things like requiring an ID to vote. Horrors.

Joe Biden echoed that in July: “They want to make it so hard and inconvenient that they hope people don’t vote at all.” In fact, he added, the reality that several states had enacted election integrity measures was a “21st-century Jim Crow assault” on democracy itself. He’s assigned the “Jim Crow” epithet to election integrity numerous times, though he can’t seem to decide if that or the January 6 Capitol riot constitutes “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” And just so you know that’s hyperbole, he added, “That’s not hyperbole.”

For the record, the real racists here are the Democrats suggesting that minorities are somehow less able to obtain an ID.

Back to the states. “At least 41 states have made changes to their election laws already this year following the contentious 2020 election,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Republicans, who control far more state houses, have sponsored 114 bills to Democrats’ 86.

Not all of those changes are significant, but some are. Many GOP bills are simply rolling back some of the expansions and exceptions put in place as the nation dealt with a once-in-a-century pandemic.

On Monday, more than 100 Democrat state legislators rallied in Washington to promote HR 1 (the grossly misnamed For the People Act). Many of these Democrats are from Texas, and they have been in Washington for weeks, derelict in their duty for having fled their state to prevent a quorum and a vote on election legislation. Republican Governor Greg Abbott promises to continue calling special sessions as long as needed to pass the bill.

Ironically, these state-level “representatives” want the federal government to override their states’ sovereignty in passing election laws. They’re putting party over the people. “For the people,” indeed. Their efforts are all in service to one agenda: obtaining Democrat power by any means necessary.