Democrat Tulsi Gabbard says voter fraud 'serious threat,' seeks to outlaw ballot harvesting

Most Democrats have been dismissing President Trump's warnings about voter fraud. But not Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), the former presidential candidate with a penchant for challenging her party's positions.

Gabbard is sponsoring a new House bill called the Election Fraud Prevention Act that seeks to outlaw the practice of ballot harvesting, a growing practices especially among Democrats in which third parties distribute and collect ballots in an effort to grow the vote.

"Banning ballot harvesting is not a partisan issue. It's been used & abused in states like North Carolina and California & is ripe for fraud," Gabbard tweeted Friday in announcing her new bipartisan legislation, which is being co-sponsored by Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill.

Their bill would cut federal funding from states that don't ban ballot havesting. "No one should get between a voter and the ballot box," Gabbard said.

The legislation's summary says it would "amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit payments under such Act to States which permit ballot harvesting."

In an accompanying video message, Gabbard said ballot harvesting "allows for abuse from third parties collecting and mishandling ballots" and "poses a serious threat to the integrity of our elections."