February Letter Drop
The election of President Barack Obama and the overturning of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act allowed states with a history of voter disenfranchisement to suddenly change their voting rules without oversight. Suddenly 24 states saw the need to have voters provide Photo ID; many states provided no easy or free way to attain the newly required IDs and this deeply impacted African Americans, seniors, women and students. We must support legislation that removes the requirement for Photo ID and on the Federal level pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act to create a new formula for Section 4 to add teeth to the now toothless Voting Rights Act.
In 2017 the integrity—and accuracy—of our voting system have come into question. We’ve seen it in the recent rash of voter ID laws, in election-day restrictions designed to prevent many Americans from casting votes—even allegations of fraud in actual vote counting.
Felony Disenfranchisement S1588 - Democracy Restoration Act (Cardin-MD)
Voting is a privilege NOT a right. The privilege has been extended by Constitutional amendment over the decades. Because voting is a privilege and under the control of State law rather than Federal law, more than 6 million people (mostly African American) have lost their ability to vote due to a felony conviction. We must make voting a Constitutional right for all citizens. Currently there is Federal legislation and also Virginia legislation to make voting a right of all citizens.
Voter Empowerment Act - S1437 (Gillibrand - NY)
This omnibus bill includes restoration of voting rights for people with past felony convictions in Federal elections, prohibits voter caging, returns to paper ballots and manual audits of election results as well as provides an outline for mandatory training of poll workers.
Same Day Registration - S360 (Klobuchar - MN)/HR 1044 (Ellison - MN05)This bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states with a voter registration requirement to make same-day voter registration available at the polling place on any day voting is permitted.
Automatic Voter Registration - S1353 (Leahy - VT)/HR 2876 (Brady - PA01)
The chief State election official of each State shall establish and operate a system of automatic registration for the registration of eligible individuals to vote for elections for Federal office in the State, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
The term automatic registration means a system that registers an individual to vote in elections for Federal office in a State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the information necessary for registration from government agencies to election officials of the State so that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to be registered, the individual will be registered to vote in such elections.
HOUSE LEGISLATION
Voter Roll Integrity Act - HR 3091 (Pocan - WI02)
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to limit the authority of State election officials to remove registrants from the official list of eligible voters in elections for Federal office in the State on the basis of interstate cross-checks.
SAFE Act - HR 1562 (Pocan - WI02)
This bill does the following: 1) Designates Election Administration Systems as Critical Infrastructure, 2) Secures Voting Systems and Voter Registration Processes by providing assistance to states for information technology security upgrades to voter registration and election administration processes, 3) Returns to paper ballots and manual counting requirements making sure to provide accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities and requires manual audits by hand count.
Restoring Confidence in America's Elections - HR 3132 (Johnson - GA04)
This bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to: (1) prohibit the purchase or use in a federal election of an electronic voting system that does not produce a voter-verified paper record; (2) prohibit the imposition of conditions on voting by mail; (3) make mandatory the availability of early voting; and (4) require sufficient polling places, equipment, and resources to facilitate voting.