The Freedom To Vote Act = Real, Historic Reform

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note  |  July 20, 2023

This week, congressional Democrats made clear their determination to fight for as long as it takes to enact essential voting rights and other democratic reforms.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the reintroduction of the Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) and said the legislation would be the top priority for Democrats in this Congress, as it was in the last Congress.

Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar and Rep. John Sarbanes again are serving as the chief sponsors of the legislation. The legislation has been designated S. 1 again in the Senate and H.R. 11 in the House, the highest bill number assigned to the House minority.

The Freedom to Vote Act would protect the right of all eligible citizens to vote and have their vote properly counted; override state voter suppression and election sabotage laws; provide for fair and secure federal elections; prevent partisan gerrymandering; and combat the influence-seeking political money that is flooding our elections and corrupting Washington.

This historic legislation passed the House in the last Congress and came within two votes of passing in the Senate and being enacted.

Recognizing that this is a difficult battle, the press conference that Democrats held this week showed their commitment to get this legislation over the finish line.

The FTVA stands in stark contrast to the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, reported out of the House Administration Committee on a Republican party-line vote last week. (The legislation is expected to pass when it comes to the House floor and to die in the Senate.)

The ACE Act is a fraud.

The ACE Act would make it harder for Blacks, other minorities, the disabled, the young, and urban residents to vote – constituencies that Republicans have singled out as likely Democratic voters.

This effort to improperly tilt elections to Republicans mirrors the efforts in Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass voter suppression and election sabotage laws to benefit Republican candidates.

At least 19 states in 2021 and 12 states in 2022 passed restrictive voting laws and/or election sabotage laws, and at least 11 states have passed such laws this year, according to the Brennan Center.

Our political system is broken and is being attacked by indefensible state voter suppression, harassment and threats to election officials, and attempts to set the stage to steal future elections. Our campaign finance system is corrupted by big money donors who buy influence in Washington at the expense of ordinary Americans.

According to a new poll of likely voters in 2024 House and Senate battlegrounds, defending democracy, protecting the freedom to vote, and ending big money, special-interest control of Washington politicians, were each named as top or major priorities by at least 79 percent of voters surveyed.

Former President Trump and his followers are preparing a plan to unleash unchecked Executive Branch power for Trump or any other Republican who may be elected President. If their plan were ever implemented, it would enable a President to act as a dictator and prosecute at will any opponents – just like the systems in Russia and China.

One of the great ironies in our nation’s history is the fact that former President Trump lied ceaselessly about how the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, even as he and his co-conspirators were trying to steal the presidency from Joe Biden.

Trump’s election denier movement is still in place and is preparing to wage a new effort to steal the 2024 presidency if that becomes necessary.

Our democracy must be protected against Trump and his forces who are on a path to turn our democracy into an autocracy.

Enactment of the Freedom to Vote Act, when it happens, will be a major step to strengthen our political system and protect our democracy.

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Fred’s Weekly Note appears each Thursday in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.