There's a war being fought over the right to vote. Both sides agree that voting is our foundational right. They differ on who should have it.
As of late February there were no fewer than 253 bills with the goal of restricting voting access on the calendars of 43 state legislatures.
There is one bill in front of Congress that would quash them all, and it has Trump worked up in a big way:
"Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in Congress are racing to pass a flagrantly unconstitutional attack on the First Amendment and the integrity of our elections known as H.R. 1. . . . Their bill would drastically restrict political speech, . . . And turn the Federal Election Commission into a partisan political weapon. In addition, it virtually eliminates voter ID requirements nationwide, effectively ends all registration deadlines. . . . Requires states to give ballots to felons, automatically registers every welfare recipient to vote, and puts unaccountable unelected bureaucrats in charge of drawing congressional districts."¹
Nonsense! H.R. 1, or the For the People Act 2021, has these goals: "To expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes."²
H.R. 1 is a huge, sweeping bill that aims to undo years of unjust electoral legislation, restore the vote to perennially disenfranchised groups, expand voting access to all eligible Americans, reduce the influence of huge political donors while making it easier for small donors to have an impact, do away with the racist practice of gerrymandering, and strip away layers of racist barriers to voting that date back to the Jim Crow era.
Trump hates it. Republicans fear it.
Let's look at just a few things Trump doesn't like about it:
We'll get that "unconstitutional" nonsense out of the way first. H. R. 1 is above all about making voting as easy and efficient as possible, which is fully in accord with the history of the Constitution. Six of the 27 constitutional amendments expand access to voting.
Now to his specific complaints from CPAC. H.R. 1 will:
"Drastically restrict political speech." Subtitle C of the bill calls for greater accountability and transparency regarding political advertising and greater security against foreign involvement in elections. Subtitle D, cutely titled "Stand By Every Ad," requires full disclosure of all who pay for every ad. Openness and honesty and light in dark corners--of course Republicans don't like it.
"Make the Federal Election Commission a partisan weapon." For years the FEC has been stymied by having 6 members divided equally by party, so it became paralyzed and unable to act. H.R. 1 reduces the membership to five (2 Rep., 2 Dem) with an independent chairperson and gives the commission more enforcement authority over election irregularities. Commission members are term-limited to avoid staleness. Trump and his cronies have been happy with a toothless FEC that let them get by with all kinds of shenanigans. No more.
"Eliminate voter ID requirements nationwide, effectively end all registration deadlines." H.R. 1 promotes internet voter registration and requires automatic registration for everyone who provides their information to a state office (e.g. DMV, public assistance, or a state college). Registration becomes an opt-out, rather than an opt-in procedure. The bill further requires all states to offer same day registration to ensure no voter misses out due to any event or phenomenon that might have prevented their early registration.
"Require States to give ballots to felons." That would be felons who have completed any prison sentence. Trump is terrified of this section for one reason: About 55% of the approximately 5 million Americans who can't vote due to a felony history are Black and Latinx.
"Automatically register every welfare recipient to vote." Noted above regarding registration in state programs. Of course people in need should be able to vote. They're Americans.
"Puts unaccountable unelected bureaucrats
in charge of drawing congressional districts." Trump talking about accountability? That's rich. Subtitle E will end partisan gerrymandering by establishing uniform rules for all states. Nonpartisan commissions with equal party representation and representation from significant minority communities will be responsible for redrawing districts equitably. Far from being unaccountable, these commissions will face the highest accountability: meetings will be open and voters will judge for themselves whether they have acted fairly.
H.R. 1 will provide voting access to uncounted Americans who have been disenfranchised by reason of race, poverty, disability, criminal history, or shamefully kept from the polls by their own states. Republicans want to count only "legal" votes--i.e. votes for Republicans.
This incredibly important piece of legislation affects us all directly. It has passed the House. The Senate version, called S. 1, is up next. Please contact your senators and urge them to pass it.
Trump tried to wreck democracy and disenfranchise all of us.
He failed. Our turn.
--- Diogenes, 3/9/2021
¹ Donald Trump remarks at CPAC, 2/28/21. I have edited for brevity and typos only.
² Link to full text: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1/text Link to annotated checklist: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/annotated-guide-people-act-2021#t1-top