A top official for Heritage Action for America, an advocacy group affiliated with the Heritage Foundation bragged to big money donors about writing new voter suppression laws in states across the country in a leaked video obtained by the watchdog group Documented and shared with Mother Jones.
Jessica Anderson, the executive director of Heritage Action told donors last month that the group had written legislation and provided support for lawmakers in states across the country passing voter suppression laws in the wake of President Joe Biden’s victory.
“In some cases, we actually draft them for them,” she said. “Or we have a sentinel on our behalf give them the model legislation so it has that grassroots, from-the-bottom-up type of vibe.”
She specifically mentioned the group’s work in Georgia, Arizona, Florida, and Iowa, all states that have pass legislation limiting access to the ballot box after the 2020 election.
“Iowa is the first state that we got to work in, and we did it quickly and we did it quietly,” she said. “We helped draft the bills. We made sure activists were calling the state legislators, getting support, showing up at their public hearings, giving testimony. Honestly, nobody even noticed. My team looked at each other and we’re like, ‘It can’t be that easy.’”
She also told the group that the Heritage Foundation was involved in supporting efforts to pass a sweeping new voting law in Georgia earlier this year that critics call Jim Crow 2.0.
The bill restricts mail ballot drop boxes, prevents election officials from sending absentee ballot request forms to voters, making it easier for partisan workers to monitor the polls, preventing the collection of mail ballots, and restricting the ability of counties to accept donations from nonprofit groups seeking to aid in election administration, according to Mother Jones. All those provisions in the bill came from the Heritage foundation’s list of best practices and sets Georgia on the path to becoming “the example for the rest of the country,” Anderson said.
Georgia state Rep. Barry Fleming who helped to finalized the bill praised Heritage Foundation for their work.
“I can tell you, back in February, I felt like some days we were alone in Georgia,” he said. “And then the Heritage Foundation stepped in, and that began to bring us a boost to help turn around, get the truth out about what we were really trying to do. And I’m here in part to say thank you and God bless you.”
An official in Georgia Secretary of State’s office denied that Heritage Action was involved in the process.
But, Anderson said in the leaked video that she met with Gov. Brian Kemp and urged him to quickly sign the bill when it reached his desk.
“I had one message for him,” Anderson said. “Do not wait to sign that bill. If you wait even an hour, you will look weak. This bill needs to be signed immediately.”
Kemp signed the bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly.
Anderson said she’s bringing that same message to Republican governors in Texas, Arizona, and Florida.
Texas is the next big prize for the group. According to Anderson Heritage Action wrote “19 provisions” in a Texas House bill.
According to Mother Jones, the bill would make it a criminal offense for election officials to give a mail ballot request form to a voter who hadn’t explicitly asked for one and would subject poll workers to criminal penalties for removing partisan poll challengers who are accused of voter intimidation.
Anderson assured the donors that “Gov. Abbott will sign it quickly.”
Anderson also touted the involvement of Hans von Spakovsky, a former justice department official in the George W. Bush administration who has been one of the key figures spreading the myth of widespread voter fraud over the last several decades.
“Hans is briefing governors, secretaries of state, state attorney generals, state elected officials,” Anderson said. “Just what three weeks ago, we had a huge call with secretaries of state, right?”
Anderson said Heritage is dedicated to spending $24 million over two years in eight battleground states—Arizona, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Texas, and Wisconsin—to pass and defend restrictive voting legislation.
Republican-controlled state legislators this year have introduced 361 bills across 47 states that would restrict access to voting, according to a Brennan Center analysis.
Republicans claim that the new legislations are about protecting the integrity of future elections but, it’s really just a group of partisan players who have tried and failed for years to get these restrictions pass to help Republicans win election. Trump’s lies about the election finally gave them an opening to pass the legislations.
In a statement to Mother Jones Anderson defended the group’s work, telling the outlet: “We are proud of our work at the national level and in states across this country to promote commonsense reforms that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. We’ve been transparent about our plans and public with our policy recommendations, and we won’t be intimidated by the left’s smear campaign and cancel culture.”