From Common Cause (http://www.commoncause.org):
Today (3/8/10, the House of Representatives voted to pass the For the People Act (H.R. 1) in its entirety — the most comprehensive electoral reform bill we’ve seen in decades.
That means a majority of House members are now on the record supporting:
- Voting rights & fair elections for every American: Automatic voter registration, ending partisan gerrymandering, expanded early voting, re-enfranchising people with felony convictions, ramping up election security, and a federal holiday for Election Day.
- A democracy that puts people first, not money: Small-donor citizen-funded elections (not corporate special interest-funded elections) so lawmakers don’t have to rely on Big Money, full disclosure of political spending, and stronger oversight to make sure our rules are actually enforced.
- Ethical government that’s accountable to the people: Closing the revolving door in Washington, stopping conflicts of interest, banning lawmakers from serving on corporate boards while in office, and requiring presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns.
These reforms are already working in states across the country — and now, we’re taking them nationwide. This is a huge win for our movement! Look at how far we’ve come…
At the beginning of this decade, two Supreme Court rulings cut to the very heart of our democracy. Citizens United invited millions in corporate spending to corrupt our politics, while Shelby County gutted the Voting Rights Act and empowered vote suppressors nationwide.
But ever since those disastrous rulings, a truly remarkable grassroots movement has sprung up — led by ordinary Americans like you who care about their democracy.
Common Cause members helped build the groundswell of support for the For the People Act as Congress’s first order of business by calling, emailing, and bird-dogging candidates for Congress with the Our Democracy 2018 campaign. I testified on behalf of our 1 million-plus members in support of this bill, putting us on the record for the broad pro-democracy agenda it represents. And just this morning, dozens of Common Cause supporters delivered over 500,000 signatures in support of the For the People Act to Congress — sending an unmistakable message that the American people are ready for the democracy we deserve.
Together, we sounded the alarm about the threats created by the Citizens United and Shelby County decisions. We have built a new, nationwide consensus behind the solutions to rebuild our democracy. And, we’ve enacted many of them in states across the country — and are already seeing them pay off.
Now, we’ve passed this bold agenda through the House of Representatives, and have gotten more members of Congress than ever before on the record for these common-sense solutions.
Today’s vote is the first step in a long journey — just like it was for the bipartisan McCain-Feingold reform bill we passed in 2002. There’s no doubt that Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump will do everything they can to block the For the People Act. But that shouldn’t take away from the fact that we’ve built a powerful consensus for a broad, comprehensive reform agenda — and with a different President and Senate, this bill could be signed into law in the coming years.
We won a powerful victory today — and you should know and take pride in the part you played to lay the groundwork for reform. I’m so proud of the work we do — together — to make sure we leave for the next generation the democracy we all deserve.
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