H.R. 1, The “For The PEOPLE Act”, is an election reform bill recently introduced in Congress that could make sweeping reforms for the
better, but just what would it do anyway?
H.R. 1, named the “For the People Act of 2021,” is legislation originally proposed by the House of Representatives in 2019 to fight electoral corruption and shore up our representative democracy through changes in federal election law.
Since fighting corruption is a primary concern of Represent San Diego, we’ve taken a keen interest in this legislation. That this bill is getting traction in the Capitol is notable because lawmakers rarely embrace changes to a system that put them in their positions of influence in the first place.
As a testament to the growing support for election reform, H.R. 1 has already been noted as key legislation by House leadership. The Senate is now drafting a sister bill, S.B. 1, that further boosts the chances Americans will see major reform in 2021.
H.R. 1 includes a variety of provisions, among which are:
- Numerous reforms to make registration and voting easier and more accessible to all eligible voters
- Restrictions on states’ abilities to remove voters from the rolls
- Prohibitions on interference, deception and intimidation in voter registration and voting
- Clarification of rights of systematically disenfranchised categories such as Native Americans, residents of the District of Columbia and US Territories
- Establishment of independent, non-partisan redistricting commissions
- Increased funding and rules to improve election security
- Changes in the rules and greater enforcement of campaign financing
- Increased transparency in campaign financing
- Guidelines and funding for public financing of elections to increase citizen engagement
- Strengthened ethics requirements for many federal offices, including the judiciary
This bill is comprehensive; the table of contents alone runs to twelve pages, so we can’t cover it all here. While it doesn’t resolve all concerns about legalized corruption in our electoral system, Represent San Diego feels that this bill is a substantial step in the right direction, because it addresses a significant list of systemic problems at the federal level. We’re mobilizing our grassroots team at the local and national levels to make sure this important bill makes it into law.
If you are interested in researching the details of the bill for yourself, you can find it online at H.R.1 – For the People Act of 2021.
We’d love to hear from you. What do you think about H.R. 1? What else would you do to build a democracy that works for us all? Comment below or email us.
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From Represent.Us:
Call your representative here. Let them know that HR-1 is the most important legislative action this term: https://act.represent.us/call/tell-house-for-the-people/?source=header-nav
For the People Act represents the most comprehensive anti-corruption reform we’ve seen in a generation.
This sweeping bill would:
* Dramatically increase election security and voter participation
* End gerrymandering in Congress
* Strengthen ethics and financial conflict of interest laws for the President, Congress, and Supreme Court
* End secret donations to politics and rein in Super PACs
* Dramatically decrease politicians’ dependence on special interest lobbyist money
* Close lobbyist loopholes, and much more
Now is the time to take action. This isn’t about left vs. right — it’s about seismic reform to unrig our broken political system and end corruption.
To be more informed on the subject, check out this URL: https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/feb/03/fact-checking-misleading-attacks-hr-1-democrats-vo/