SPLC Action Fund: H.R. 1 Will Strengthen Our Democracy; Up to Senate to Make It Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the For the People Act, or H.R. 1, by a vote of 220-210. Zero House Republicans voted in favor of the bill. Provisions of H.R. 1 include: restoring federal voting rights to people with felony convictions; modernizing voter registration and absentee ballot systems; reforming redistricting; ending partisan and prison gerrymandering; and combating illegal and discriminatory voter purges. Now, the legislation heads to the U.S. Senate. 

The SPLC Action Fund has previously submitted written testimony to the Committee on House Administration urging swift passage of the law.

Nancy Abudu, deputy legal director of voting rights for the SPLC Action Fund, issued the following statement in response to tonight’s vote: 

“The need for H.R. 1 couldn’t be clearer — or more urgent. Today’s vote represents a giant step forward in improving access to the ballot across the country, but particularly here in the Deep South — the birthplace of the modern voting rights movement — where it is still much too hard to vote.

“The 2020 election season, in which election officials in many southern states failed to protect voters and their loved ones during a deadly pandemic, revealed not only deep faults in our electoral system, but also the resilience and dedication of voters in the Deep South. Only through bold, decisive action can federal lawmakers ensure that voters everywhere are protected from efforts to exclude them from the political process. 

“State legislators and officials here in the Deep South have resisted for decades commonsense reforms like online voter registration and automatic voter registration while advancing and maintaining voter suppression policies like felony disenfranchisement, restrictive photo ID laws, massive voter purges, and polling place closures.

“Democracy reform is therefore urgent in the Deep South, where voters have also been without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for nearly eight years. Right now, state legislatures are attempting to further roll back access to the ballot, justifying these new attacks on the right to vote with decades-old lies about voter fraud reinvigorated in recent months by far-right conspiracy theorists and extremists. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, just heard a case that challenges Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—one of the most powerful tools we still have to defeat racial discrimination in voting.

“H.R.1 would roll back discriminatory practices that have harmed voters and citizens of color. Among other provisions, it would restore federal voting rights to people with felony convictions, modernize voter registration and absentee ballot systems, reform redistricting, end partisan and prison gerrymandering, and combat illegal and discriminatory voter purges. 

“The For the People Act is overwhelmingly popular among Americans of all ideologies and political persuasions. More than two-thirds of Americans, including more than half of all Republicans, support H.R. 1. It represents a transformative, popular vision for our democracy that would ease access to the ballot box, protect against voter suppression, and significantly modernize elections around the country.

“With the House passing the For the People Act, we are taking the next step forward in protecting voters and our democracy for future generations. The Senate must follow suit and immediately pass the For the People Act so it can be signed into law.”