Two proposed U.S. bills to expand voting access and protection
In this article, the Church and Society/Social Justice Committee highlights two voting rights bills being considered by the U.S. Congress. Please voice your support for these important bills — and please share this information with friends and family in our state and throughout the nation who may want to do the same.
HR 1: For the People Act – This bill expands voter registration and voting access and limits removing voters from voter rolls. HR 1 would:
- Protect and expand access to the ballot, and break down barriers to exercising the right to vote through reforms like automatic voter registration and ending racially discriminatory voter purges.
- Make representation in government fairer by ending partisan and racial gerrymandering.
- Amplify the voices of ordinary Americans in our politics by establishing a small donor matching system for federal races to put ordinary Americans ahead of Big Money donors.
- Fight corruption by enacting new ethical standards for elected officials.
Take one minute to visit this link provided by Fix Democracy First to send your U.S. Congressional Representative a pre-scripted message:
HR 4: The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019-2020 – The Voting Rights Act was first signed in 1965 by President Johnson after it was determined the existing federal anti-discrimination laws were not sufficient to overcome resistance by some state officials to enforcing the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which states that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and that Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
HR 4 establishes a process for reviewing changes in voting laws in jurisdictions throughout the nation, specifically on measures historically used to discriminate against voters. The bill has passed the House and, as of mid-February 2021, is in the U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
HR 4 would
- Modernize the Voting Rights Act formula that determines which states and localities have a pattern of voter discrimination.
- Require officials to publicly announce all changes to voting laws or procedures at least 180 days before an election, to ensure that last-minute changes to voting laws do not adversely affect voting rights.
- Expand the government’s authority to send federal observers to any jurisdiction where there may be a substantial risk of discrimination at the polls on Election Day or during an early voting period.
To communicate about this bill with our U.S. Senators from Washington State, click on the links below.
Maria Cantwell, US Senator: https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/email
Patty Murry, US Senator: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme