Watch Equal Citizens founder, Lawrence Lessig, explain HR 1 

H.R. 1 will:

1  Change the way campaigns get funded.

2  End partisan gerrymandering.

3  Make voting easier and more secure.

4  Prevent voter suppression efforts.

5  Impose strong new ethics rules on members of Congress.

A Revised H.R. 1:

In the Fall of 2021, Senate Democrats introduced the Freedom to Vote Act, a revised version of the For the People Act. This revised bill has the support of the entire Senate Democratic Caucus and addresses even more threats to our democracy that have emerged in recent months.

What’s in the Freedom to Vote Act?

The Freedom to Vote Act includes almost all of the policies that are in the For The People Act. This includes a ban on partisan gerrymandering, automatic voter registration, same day registration, 15 days of early voting, accessible vote-by-mail standards, protections against voter purging, and it restores the right to vote for formerly incarcerated citizens in federal elections. 

The Freedom to Vote Act moreover addresses big money in politics by increasing disclosure of who is influencing our elections and stopping coordination between candidates and Super PACs. And it changes how campaigns are funded by creating both a small-donor matching program and a democracy voucher program that states can opt into.

Also, the Freedom to Vote Act includes a number of provisions that were not in the For The People Act. For example, the bill includes provisions focused on preventing election subversion and strengthening protections for election workers (who now face threats of violence for doing their job). The Freedom to Vote Act also makes Election Day a federal holiday and forbids states from criminalizing the distribution of food and water to voters waiting in line. 

These new policies address the threats to democracy that have emerged since the original For The People Act was drafted. The Freedom to Vote Act is truly an attempt to meet the current crisis.

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