Today House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Administration Chairperson Zoe Lofgren, and Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Representative John Sarbanes introduced the For the People Act of 2020 (HR 1), an updated version of the historic democracy reform bill the House passed in March 2019. The Brennan Center helped develop many of the core policies in the For the People Act — including automatic voter registration, redistricting reform, and small donor public financing.
Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had this comment on the For the People Act:
"In the face of an unprecedented attempt to overturn a presidential election result primarily by negating the votes of people of color, now more than ever we need a clear, even-handed baseline for federal voting rights. H.R.1 would ensure that every eligible voter who wants to cast a ballot has the opportunity to do so by, among other things, implementing automatic voter registration nationwide, expanding access to early voting and vote by mail, and restoring voting rights to Americans with past criminal convictions.
"The bill also contains many other critical reforms. On the eve of a new redistricting cycle it would finally ban partisan gerrymandering for Congress and take other steps to make congressional redistricting more open and transparent. And it would establish a viable small donor public financing system for federal elections to lift up the voices of everyday Americans and rectify the worst effects of Citizens United — at no cost to taxpayers.
“This country is more than ready for the For the People Act. The record-breaking turnout in the 2020 election and the massive demonstrations for racial justice show that millions of Americans are hungry to engage in our democracy.”
This statement is available here.
Related resources
- “The Supreme Court’s ‘Breathtakingly Radical’ New Approach to Election Law,” op-ed showing the need for the For the People Act, by Wendy Weiser and Daniel Weiner, Politico, Nov. 2020
- “How Congress Can Fix a Slew of Voting Problems,” op-ed about the For the People Act, by Wendy Weiser, Boston Globe, Sept. 2020
- The Case for H.R. 1, Brennan Center for Justice, April 2020
