Democrats plan to move quickly on one of the first bills of the new Congress, citing the need for federal election standards and other changes to shore up the foundations of American democracy after a tumultuous postelection period and deadly riot at the Capitol.
States have long had disparate and contradictory rules for running elections. But the 2020 election, which featured pandemic-related changes to ease voting and then a flood of lawsuits by former President Donald Trump and his allies, underscored the differences from state to state: Mail-in ballots due on Election Day or just postmarked by then? Absentee voting allowed for all or just voters with an excuse? Same-day or advance-only registration?
Democrats, asserting constitutional authority to set the time, place and manner of federal elections, want national rules they say would make voting more uniform, accessible and fair across the nation. The bill would mandate early voting, same-day registration and other long-sought rules that Republicans reject as federal overreach.
"We have just literally seen an attack on our own democracy," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., referring to the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. "I cannot think of a more timely moment to start moving on democracy reform."
The legislation first introduced two years ago, known as the For the People Act, also would give independent commissions the job of drawing congressional districts, require political groups to disclose high-dollar donors, create reporting requirements for online political ads and obligate presidents to disclose their tax returns.
Republican opposition was fierce during the last session. At the time, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., labeled it the "Democrat Politician Protection Act" and said in an op-ed that Democrats were seeking to "change the rules of American politics to benefit one party."
While Democrats control Congress for the first time in a decade, the measure's fate depends on whether enough Republicans can be persuaded to reconsider a bill they have repeatedly rejected.
Advocates say the bill is the most consequential piece of voting legislation since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. House Democrats vowed two years ago to make the bill a priority, and they reintroduced it this month as H.R. 1, underscoring its importance to the party.
"People just want to be able to cast their vote without it being an ordeal," said Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., who is the lead sponsor of the House bill. "It's crazy in America that you still have to navigate an obstacle course to get to the ballot box."
Current plans would have the full House take up the bill as soon as the first week of February. The Senate Rules Committee would then consider a companion bill introduced in the Senate, and a tie vote there could allow it to move out of committee and to the floor as early as next month, said Klobuchar, who is expected to become the committee's next chairman.
A quick vote would be remarkable considering the Senate also is likely to be juggling Trump's impeachment trial, confirmation of President Joe Biden's Cabinet choices and another round of coronavirus relief.
While states have long had different voting procedures, the November election highlighted how the variability could be used to sow doubt about the outcome. The bill's supporters, which include national voting and civil rights organizations, cited dozens of preelection lawsuits that challenged procedural rules, such as whether ballots postmarked on Election Day should count.
Along with the election bill, the House two years ago introduced a related bill, now known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in honor of the late civil-rights activist and congressman. House Democrats are expected to reintroduce it soon after it had similarly stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.
That bill would restore a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that had triggered federal scrutiny of election changes in certain states and counties. A 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling set aside the method used to identify jurisdictions subject to the provision, known as preclearance, which was used to protect voting rights in places with a history of discrimination.
