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1 Wendy Weiser, et al., Why Congress Must Pass the 'For the People Act' 1 (2021)

handle is hein.brennan/wycsmtps0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Why Congress Must Pass the 'For the People Act' By Wendy Weiser, Daniel I. Weiner, and Dominique Erney UPDATED JANUARY 29,2021 merican democracy urgently needs repair. We now have a historic opportunity to bring about trans- formative change. In both houses of Congress, the For the People Act - H.R. 1 in the House and S. 1 in the Senate - was designated as the first bill, a top priority this session. This historic legislation responds to twin crises facing our country: the attack on democracy, epitomized in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, and the urgent demand for racial justice. It is based on the key insight that the best way to defend democracy is to strengthen democ- racy. If enacted, it would be the most significant voting rights and democracy reform in more than half a century. The 2020 election, like the 2018 midterms, featured historic levels of voter mobilization - the highest in over a century, even in the face of a deadly pandemic. But there were also unprecedented efforts to thwart the electoral process and disenfranchise voters, primarily in Black and brown communities, based on lies about voter fraud (culminating in the violent attack on the Capitol). Extreme partisan gerrymandering continued to distort far too many races for the House. And despite increased engage- ment by small campaign donors, the most expensive campaign in American history was still largely bankrolled by a small coterie of individual megadonors and entrenched interests. While these problems were more extreme this cycle, they are certainly not new. For decades, public trust has declined as our political system's longstanding challenges have worsened: Citizens' voices have been silenced through voter suppression, gerrymandering, and decep- tive tactics. Wealthy campaign donors maintain outsized sway over policy. And the guardrails against discrimina- tion, corruption, and manipulation of the system for personal gain have all been cast aside or eroded. The viru- lent coronavirus, whose worst effects in terms of both health and economics have fallen disproportionately on communities of color, underscores the urgent need for a functioning democracy that serves all the people. But here is the good news: we know what we need to do to address these problems and strengthen American democracy. It starts with passing the For the People Act. The Act incorporates key measures that are urgently needed, including automatic voter registration and other steps to modernize our elections; a national guarantee of free and fair elections without voter suppression, coupled with a commitment to restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act; small donor public financing to empower ordinary Americans instead of big donors (at no cost to taxpayers) and other critical campaign finance reforms; an end to partisan gerrymandering; and a much- needed overhaul of federal ethics rules. These reforms respond directly to Americans' desire Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 1

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