I live in NY 20, represented by Congressman Paul Tonko. He recently posted to Facebook about several issues the House just dealt with, including HR-1. Here’s the section from his newsletter about it:
...we must also face a growing crisis of faith in our government. Whether grappling with the false narratives being pushed by political extremists, or the very real foreign threats we know are ongoing to undermine our government and divide our nation, America’s democratic republic is under threat. This week, my colleagues and I stepped up to respond in the House of Representatives, voting to pass H.R. 1, the For the People Act.
This historic legislation advances commonsense ethics and good government reforms including funding for states to upgrade election security systems, basic election standards that simplify and expand voters’ access to the ballot, and new transparency requirements and election resources that confront the outsized influence of big money in politics. After years of distortion and outright lies from the last administration, the For the People Act makes good on the vital effort to restore public confidence, root out corruption in Washington and work to ensure the voices and votes of every American are heard and respected.
Among its key reforms, H.R. 1:
- Promotes and protects fair and clean elections: making it easier for Americans to cast legal votes by removing institutional barriers such as onerous registration requirements and limited voting hours; enhancing federal support for voting system security and promoting integrity by restoring the Voting Rights Act and putting an end to partisan gerrymandering to prevent politicians from picking their voters.
- Ends the dominance of big, dark money in politics: shining a light on dark money in politics and requiring all organizations involved in political activity disclose their large donors; strengthening oversight and amplifying the political power of everyday Americans—not special interests—by creating a multiple dollar matching system for small individual donations.
- Ensures public servants work for the public interest: Expanding conflict of interest law and divestment requirements; requiring presidents to disclose their tax returns to the American people and giving teeth to federal ethics oversight by overhauling the Office of Government Ethics.
We have a long road ahead to deliver the needed reforms that will positively transform our most critical institutions, but H.R. 1 takes a powerful step in the right direction...
The Facebook post was swarmed by right wing trolls, of course. Since Biden took office, they seem to have become even more fervent on social media. (There’s one post I am considering saving because it’s such a complete compendium of the latest over the top conspiracy theories.)
This particular post caught my eye, since it went into great detail why HR-1 was an evil plot by Democrats to destroy democracy.
Democrats in the House passed H.R. 1. The election reform package, if passed by the Senate, would transfer authority over how elections are administered from states to the federal government, subject private citizens to intimidation and harassment for their private and political beliefs.
These are some of the key changes to election laws in H.R.
• Gives the federal government authority to administer elections instead of states.
• Limits a plaintiff’s access to federal courts when challenging H.R. 1.
▪︎Mandates automatic voter registration (AVR) in all 50 states.
• Mandates no-fault absentee ballots: This provision would do away with witness signature or notarization requirements for absentee ballots.
• Prevents election officials from removing ineligible voters from registries or confirming the eligibility and qualifications of voters.
• Bans state voter ID laws.
• Ensures illegal immigrants can vote.
• Allows same-day voter registration.
• Requires registration for those under 18.
• Prohibits the publication of “misleading information” about elections.
• Allows felons to vote.
• Mandates early voting.
• Legalizes nationwide vote-by-mail, without photo ID.
• Promotes ballot harvesting: The bill has no limit on how many voted and sealed absentee ballots any designated person can return.”
• Requires states to accept ballots 10 days after Election Day.
• Prohibits state election officials from campaigning in federal elections.
• Requires “Campus Vote Coordinators” at higher institutes of learning: The bill would require colleges and universities to hire an official whose responsibility would be to inform students about elections and encourage voter registration. It would incentivize voter registration by giving grants to institutions that have a high registration rate.
• Mandates that states make absentee voter boxes available for 45 days within an election.
• Urges D.C. statehood and representation for territories.
• Requires that “independent” congressional district commissions be set up, taking power away from the state legislature.
• Creates a “National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions.” The commission would study elections and produce a report after 18 months with recommendations for improving elections but would consist of 10 members, only four of whom would be selected by the minority party, giving the majority (Democrat) party control.
• Oversight of online political advertising: The provision called the “Stand By Every Ad Act” . Opponents say this would increase the cost of campaigning.
• Weakens the Supreme Court. Wants the Constitution to be amended
• Allows candidates to use campaign funds for personal use:
• Changes the composition of the FEC: The bill would decrease the number of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) members from six to five. Four members can be associated with a particular political party, making the fifth member “independent” but who would be nominated by a president associated with a party. Former FEC members have written to Congress, warning about this change and other related provisions.
It would take hours to filter out all of the lies and true but paranoid interpretations of the bill buried in here. The point is, the right is fully engaged in discrediting the bill. The poster included a link to a
National Review article that attacks the bill, calling it “
...a partisan assault on American Democracy.”
It would be an understatement to describe H.R. 1 as a radical assault on American democracy, federalism, and free speech. It is actually several radical left-wing wish lists stuffed into a single 791-page sausage casing. It would override hundreds of state laws governing the orderly conduct of elections, federalize control of voting and elections to a degree without precedent in American history, end two centuries of state power to draw congressional districts, turn the Federal Elections Commission into a partisan weapon, and massively burden political speech against the government while offering government handouts to congressional campaigns and campus activists. Merely to describe the bill is to damn it, and describing it is a Herculean task in itself.
The Heritage Foundation is also on the case.
H.R. 1 federalizes and micromanages the election process administered by the states, imposing unnecessary, unwise, and unconstitutional mandates on the states and reversing the decentralization of the American election process—which is necessary for protecting our liberty and freedom.
The bill interferes with the ability of states and their citizens to determine qualifications for voters, to ensure the accuracy of voter registration rolls, to secure the integrity of elections, to participate in the political process, and to determine the district boundary lines for electing their representatives.
Mind you, this is a relatively literate effort at disinformation; the Fox News version is probably orders of magnitude more stupid. This ‘concern’ about voting is rich, coming from the people who inflicted Project REDMAP on us, and are currently passing laws to restrict voting everywhere they can. And yes, the hypocrisy is not going away.
Republicans are obsessing about imaginary fraud as an excuse to make voting harder — the BIG LIE about the last election is just the latest escalation of bogus claims they’ve been making for years. The basic calculation is that they will still have a higher turn out at the polls because their base is more likely to turn out despite the obstacles.
There is no chance of getting HR-1 through the Senate as long as it can be filibustered. Listening to a WAMC news panel discussion this morning, someone observed that Joe Manchin holds the seat of the late Senator Robert Byrd, who was notorious for using the filibuster to block Civil Rights legislation. That was back in the old days when Senators had to actually make an effort to filibuster, instead of just issuing a memo. Manchin is making noises about ‘reforming’ it — let us hope something happens.
Kevin Drum has suggested one possible thing to include to make it harder for the GOP to reject HR-1: a national ID card. (He observes it’s a ‘good’ idea because both the right and the left hate it, if for different reasons.) As he summarizes in a follow up:
Speaking of which, here's my wildly unpopular voting rights proposal:
- All Americans get a national ID card free of charge.¹ It would look something like this:
- In-person voting would require you to show this ID.
- Early voting, mail voting, Sunday voting, etc. are standardized at some reasonable compromise level.
- Redistricting is handed over to a nonpartisan national commission.
- The end.
Republicans get photo ID voting and Democrats get photo ID voting that doesn't favor any particular constituency. The country gets standardized rules for early voting etc., which makes things easier for all and doesn't have much partisan effect regardless of what the rules are. And gerrymandering, which entered a whole new age of corruption with the advent of computerized GIS tools, is finally put to rest.
As near as I can tell, various parts of my plan are hated by Democrats, Republicans, socialists, libertarians, conservatives, liberals, rank-and-file voters, and political elites. Other than that, though, it's great.
¹No, it wouldn't turn us into a "papers please" police state. No, it wouldn't do anything that we haven't already done in a chaotic way already. But it would provide everyone with reliable ID, which would help with voting, legal employment, the unbanked, etc. More here.
Having gone through all the hassles needed to get a secure REAL ID driver’s license, a uniform standard national card for everyone whether they drive or not, free to all, would not be the worst thing to have, especially if it removes the voter ID hassle at the voting booth or when registering.
One thing is for sure. The GOP considers HR-1 an existential threat — to them. They have already said the quiet part out loud. IF we don’t act to make elections free and fair despite the GOP’s worst efforts, we are looking at permanent minority rule.