House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced an election overhaul package, in a rebuke to Republicans who, according to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are seeking to “turn back the clock” on democracy.
Jeffries was joined by fellow New Yorker and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and other Democratic leaders to tout the Freedom to Vote Act, which they said would expand voter access, support local election workers and limit the influence of dark money and partisan gerrymandering on elections.
“Democracy is facing unprecedented threats,” Schumer said at the news conference in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room of the Senate, surrounded by Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Tim Kaine of Virginia, as well as Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and other members of the House.
“Keeping our democracy is more important than anything else because everything flows from it,” Schumer continued, announcing the bills would be designated S 1, the highest legislative priority in the Senate, and HR 11, the highest legislative priority for the minority party in the House. “We know that in order to make real progress on the issues we care about, the foundation of our democracy must be strong.”
The Freedom to Vote Act would set nationwide standards to ensure voting access and expand the availability of early voting, voting by mail and drop boxes. It would provide funds for states to invest in new and more secure voting systems, stronger cybersecurity measures and additional election workers. It would also implement nonpartisan post-election audits, require super PACs and other political organizations to disclose their donors and prohibit partisan gerrymandering, among other proposals that proponents said would ward off Republican attempts to undermine democracy.
