Our House of Representatives has recently passed HR 1, the “For the People Act,” and it is now in the Senate as S 1. Sometimes the name of a bill is intended to misrepresent the contents or gaslight the audience, but this one is real. It draws on the words of Abraham Lincoln, who described our democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” It contains a range of important and interrelated measures that will strengthen American democracy by increasing voter accessibility and will allow more Americans to let their voices be heard through their votes.
We will focus here on the provisions in the bill that are particularly relevant to our issues in Alabama, but the bill also addresses campaign finance transparency (in other words, we will know who is contributing to campaigns and political ads and how much they are paying to try to influence us). It also codifies certain ethics requirements that we used to think were governed by norms: for the president, disclosure of financial conflicts of interest, and for the supreme court, an official code of ethics. You can read a summary or the entire bill here.
The League of Women Voters of Alabama in collaboration with Vote Huntsville and I Vote Madison has identified five aspects of the larger bill that we believe are especially significant to Alabama. We are collaborating to develop talking points, postcards, and educational materials that will help explain why the passage of the“For the People Act” is so important to Alabama!
The Five Focus Areas Include:
Automatic Voter Registration (AVR): The For the People Act would make automatic voter registration universal, ensuring all eligible voters have access to the same process of registration in all states without having to “opt-in” to be able to exercise their constitutionally protected right to vote. Every eligible citizen who interacts with a government agency (such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, a public university, or a social service agency) would automatically be registered to vote when they turn 18 years old unless they decline registration, and their voter registration would be updated.
Alternative to ID Requirements: The For the People Act removes a barrier to casting a ballot by creating an alternative to ID requirements for voting in federal elections, allowing eligible voters to present a signed, sworn written statement of their identity in lieu of an ID. Many of us don’t realize that a photo ID is not something that everybody has (for example, if you don’t drive).
Election Security: The For The People Act features a wide range of election security and modernization measures, including mandatory paper ballots, cybersecurity standards for voting machines and an election security bug bounty program. We are pleased to note that Alabama has never abandoned paper ballots.
Redistricting: The For The People Act eliminates political bias in the redistricting process at the federal congressional level by instituting uniform rules and requiring independent commissions to draw district maps, paving the way to better, more equitable representation for constituents. This is an important step toward eliminating gerrymandering.
Voter Roll Maintenance: The For the People Act would modernize our election systems by digitizing more of the voter registration and voter roll maintenance process. States would be required to communicate with voters via email about their registration status and voter rolls would be published on a website, easily accessible to all citizens (including the blind and those with low vision). Currently, you have to have a subscription to a newspaper and then pay attention during the several weeks when the list of names to be removed is published. Additionally, states would be prohibited from removing voters from the rolls unless they have objective and reliable evidence of a registrant’s ineligibility.
A report from the Brennan Center for Justice “has analyzed each of the restrictive voting bills pending in the states and concludes that The For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1) would thwart virtually every single one….The landmark legislation would create a national baseline for voting access that every American can rely on, and it would foil state efforts to manipulate voting rules to exclude eligible voters or create discriminatory outcomes.”
How you can help: Call your Senators and ask them to vote yes on S1 and email them. Get together with your friends (on Zoom or with appropriate pandemic safety measures in person) to discuss the issues and benefits, combined with letter writing or postcard parties. Organize a debate or educational panels using virtual/online media tools like Zoom, which could also be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube, to discuss the benefits of S1 and the potential impacts on Alabama.
