Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on Sunday called Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) voting reform compromise proposal a “federal takeover of the election system.”
Host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” asked Portman what he thought of a five-point memo from Manchin that calls for making Election Day a national holiday, banning partisan gerrymandering and allowing for at least 15 days of early voting.
“Unfortunately, what he does is what the larger bill S. 1. does, which is it takes the election system in this country and federalize it, so it’s a federal takeover of our election system,” Portman said.
Todd questioned this characterization from Portman, pointing out that the federal government often tells states how to spend certain funds, such as money set aside for transportation.
“Well, that’s true, and there’s federal money provided for that. In this case, what he’s saying to the state of Ohio or your state of Florida [is] ‘We’re gonna decide how redistricting is done. We’re gonna take it away from the democracy, in effect,'” Portman said of Manchin’s proposal.
“The bottom line is we should make it easy to vote in this country. We should also make it hard to cheat. I’m proud of our Ohio election system, and I think they do a very good job,” Portman added. “Again, I appreciate he’s trying to find that middle ground, and, who knows, maybe something can be done.”
Manchin has previously said that he would vote against the For the People Act, also known as S. 1, because it is overly broad and doesn’t have any Republican support.