By Angelina Clapp, JMU ’23, Masters in Public Administration
Voter suppression continues to cast a dark cloud over American democracy. Countless examples of voter suppression can be found throughout American history books, some clearly overt – from Jim Crow laws to the current restrictive voting rights bills sweeping legislatures in 47 different states. During the 2020 election, President Trump’s unfounded claims of rampant voter fraud caused a furious conversation around voting rights, namely the need to restrict them. Despite a report by the Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council that the 2020 election “was the most secure in American history,” Republicans have capitalized on the continued rhetoric by President Trump and others and have stepped up their fight to suppress voting rights across the country.
H.R. 1, also known as the For the People Act, aims to strengthen American democratic institutions and the right to vote by the implementing new policies and procedures that will protect voting rights, limit corruption, expose “Dark Money” in politics, and make the political process more transparent. Perhaps unsurprisingly, mainly Republican lawmakers, like Senator Mitch McConnell, fear the bill could tilt future federal elections in Democrats favor.
Findings from a recent Pew Research Center survey shows how the rhetoric of Republican elites and partisan conflict is politicizing and polarizing the conversation around voting rights. Even though a majority of U.S. adults (59%) say that everything possible should be done to make it easy for every citizen to vote, the share of Americans who say “everything possible” should be done to make voting easy has declined since 2018 – with the decrease coming entirely among Republicans. However, despite Republican’s fears about the pro-voter protection bill, another recent survey by Data for Progress shows that a majority across party lines want Congress to pass the bill: 67 percent of respondents supported the bill with including 56% who identified as Republican voters, 68% identified as Independent voters, and 77% identified Democratic voters. However, a Pew Research Center Poll also shows that the
Here’s an overview of what’s in H.R. 1 by section.
Title I: Election Access
This section aims to modernize the voter registration system in America and will implement new policies that will increase voting access to federal elections. States would be required to provide voters with an option to register to vote online, something that is currently only in place in 40 states and the District of Columbia. States will be required to implement automatic voter registration (AVR) and same-day voter registration for federal elections. AVR would automatically register those who provide information to government agencies unless they decline. This change in policy could register up to 50 million Americans to vote. Additionally, same-day voter registration would make federal elections more accessible and would help protect against registration system errors, cyber-attacks, and wrongful purges. Other items in this title include new policies to decrease voter purges, initiatives to promote voter registration, the restoration of voting rights to those previously convicted of a felony charge, new requirements for a vote by mail and early voting, and the promotion of voter access to university students and those living on tribal lands.
Title II: Election Integrity
The items in this title would continue to strengthen voting rights by limiting partisan gerrymandering, amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and addressing other pressing issues as they relate to voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is historic voting rights legislation that includes a key provision, Section 5 on pre-clearance, which required states and localities with a history of voter discrimination to go through the federal government before making any considerable changes to their voting rules. In the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby v. Holder, the court struck down the formula used to determine the states that had to follow the pre-clearance provision, gutting voting rights protections. This section of H.R. 1 affirms the commitment by Congress to restore all of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Additionally, this title would support voting rights for Americans living in U.S. territories, support D.C. statehood, and will establish new requirements for congressional redistricting. Of these new requirements, it will ban partisan gerrymandering and require that states use independent commission to draw their district maps. There are conditions within the title to ensure that these independent commissions are nonpartisan and include members who are representative of the district makeup.
Title III: Election Security
This title aims to improve election security in the United States by focusing on things like improvements to election infrastructure, enhancing protections for democratic institutions, updates to cybersecurity, and new tools to prevent election hacking. The title offers financial support to localities to update their voting systems and increase their election security measures. Additionally, it enhanced protections for democratic institutions by directing the U.S. president to create a strategy to protect the nation from such threats as election hacking and cybersecurity issues.
Title IV: Campaign Finance Transparency
This title aims to “increase campaign finance transparency, deter corruption, and prevent foreign money from infiltrating U.S. elections.” It establishes new procedures that require political campaigns and candidates to disclose any foreign government contacts to the federal government. During the 2016 election, President Trump’s campaign had multiple contacts with agents of foreign governments who did research on Trump’s political opponents, as disclosed in the Mueller Report. These contacts were not reported to law enforcement, however, the new law would require that campaigns report these contacts to the FBI and Federal Elections Commission. This title would also entail the DISCLOSE Act. This Act aims to close loopholes that allow dark money to fund political campaigns and require campaigns to disclose those groups. In addition to this, it would increase the transparency of who funds different political advertisements, require publicly traded companies to provide their shareholders with political contribution amounts, and put in place new oversight politics for Presidential inaugural committees.
Title V: Campaign Finance Empowerment
Under this title, the Citizens United decision would be examined by Congress and findings as to how this decision has negatively impacted campaigns would be published. Additionally, this section would create a system for small-donor public financing to be used for Congressional elections in an attempt to empower more people to run for federal elections.
Title VI: Campaign Finance Oversight
The main goal of this title is to restore integrity to American elections. It would overhaul the Federal Elections Commission and reform the current partisan seat distribution. Additionally, it would create tighter restrictions on money donated to candidates by Political Action Committees, require candidates to dispose of any leftover fundraised money after their campaign ends, and direct the FEC to create a report for congress on how best to ensure candidates report their donors before election day instead of after.
Title VII: Ethical Standards
New changes to ethical standards for Supreme Court justices and presidential appointees aim to make federal elections more transparent. This title will require a new code of ethics for Supreme Court justices, require foreign agents to register with the Attorney General and report their lobbying and political activities and strengthen lobbying disclosure rules.
Title VIII: Executive Branch Ethics Reform
This will establish a new code of ethics that members of the executive branch will be required to follow, including the President and Vice President.
Title IX: Congressional Ethics Reform
This title will establish a new code of ethics to increase transparency among members of Congress and their dealings while in office.
Title X: Presidential and Vice Presidential Tax Transparency
This will require all sitting presidents, vice presidents, and major-party candidates for the executive branch to disclose their tax returns. From 1973 to 2016, every president, vice president, or nominee for those offices disclosed their tax returns until Donald Trump ran. Tax returns offer the public a sense of transparency and can offer insight into any conflicts of interest and ensure that future leaders are paying their fair share.
Implications on Voting Rights in America
The For the People Act would be one of the largest overhauls of voting rights reform in American history and is a necessary step in the right direction for protecting voters. In the last year, we have seen as a nation how easy it is for voting rights to be suppressed in America. State legislatures are tripping over themselves to pass restrictive voting laws and make it more difficult for historically marginalized people to vote. The passage of the For the People Act would send a message that the federal government takes election freedom seriously and prioritizes people’s right to vote. H.R. 1 could also make it easier for people to cast a ballot for federal offices and run for office themselves. The For the People act has been passed by the House of Representatives and is currently going through the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate.
Discussion Questions
- How has partisan rhetoric and politicization shaped the discourse around voting rights?
- Why do you believe that some people are unsupportive of universal voting rights reform and voting access?
- Do you believe the changes in this bill address the systematic disenfranchisement of historically marginalized people in the United States?
- Will some of these changes make it easier for YOU to vote? How so?
- Can you think of ways you as an individual can protect the right to vote in your everyday life?
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