Brennan Center for Justice

at New York University School of Law

120 Broadway
Suite 1750
New York, New York 10271
646.292.8310 Fax 212.463.7308
www.brennancenter.org

March 4, 2019

Dear Members of Congress:

On behalf of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, we urge you to vote
for H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2019, and against any last-minute effort to weaken
the bill.

H.R. 1 is historic legislation. It is the first time in decades Congress has made
revitalizing our democracy a top legislative priority. It is also long overdue. For years,
public trust has declined as longstanding problems with our democratic system have
festered. In the 2018 midterms we saw the result: brazen and widespread voter
suppression; super PACs and dark money groups spending more than $1 billion thanks
to Citizens United; the distorting effects of extreme partisan gerrymandering; large-scale
voter roll purges; and old, failing voting machines and technology that caused long lines
and left elections vulnerable to foreign adversaries.

But something else happened in 2018: voters awoke to the urgent need for action. This
Congress was elected with the highest midterm turnout since 1914. Many members won
on a pledge to fix our democracy. In states across the country, voters approved ballot
measures aimed at unrigging the political process through reforms to redistricting,
voting, campaign finance, and government ethics—most passing by overwhelming
margins.

Now Congress should act to pass H.R. 1, a bold step forward. It builds on reforms that
have worked in many states and have proved both successful and popular. Among its
most important provisions:

Automatic Voter Registration. H.R. 1 would make automatic voter registration, which
15 states and the District of Columbia have already approved, the national standard.
Automatic registration is a transformative reform under which eligible voters are
automatically registered when they provide information to the government at the DMV
or other agencies, unless they opt out. It could add as many as 50 million new eligible
voters to the rolls. It also improves the integrity of the rolls and saves money. H.R. 1
would also require online and same-day voter registration, and curtail illegal purges of
the voter rolls. Taken together, these reforms would modernize our system and solve
almost all of the registration problems that routinely plague elections and keep millions
of Americans from voting. No change is more important.

Small-Donor Public Financing. H.R. 1 would create a program to amplify the voice of
small, private donors, using public funds to match small-dollar contributions $6-to-$1. It
would also revamp a similar program for presidential primaries. In New York City,
where small donor public financing has been in place for decades, it has diversified the
donor pool, helped candidates of modest means run for office, and allowed elected
officials to spend more time talking to their constituents instead of fundraising from big
donors. Small donor public financing is also a central component of the presidential
public financing system, which for three decades was used by almost every major
contender for the presidency. No reform would do more to rectify the worst effects of
the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision.

Restoring the 1965 Voting Rights Act. H.R. 1 would affirm Congress’s commitment to
restore the full protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law
the Supreme hobbled in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. The absence of these
protections has prompted a wave of restrictive voting measures and allowed
discriminatory changes to voting rules to stay in effect for years.

Gerrymandering Reform. H.R. 1 would ban partisan gerrymandering. It would ensure

that all communities – including communities of color – can participate meaningfully in
the redistricting process, and enhance transparency and participation in an otherwise
closed-door process. Absent these measures, extreme gerrymandering and other
redistricting abuses will only get worse in the upcoming redistricting cycle.

Nationwide Early Voting. H.R. 1 would ensure that all states have at least two weeks
of early voting to boost turnout among working Americans, reduce long lines, and help
officials catch and address problems before Election Day.

Disclosure and Other Campaign Finance Reforms. H.R. 1 would close loopholes that
let anonymously-funded dark money groups spend millions each election, extend
common-sense transparency rules to online political advertising, tighten rules intended
to keep super PACs and dark money groups independent of candidates, and overhaul the
Federal Election Commission to prevent deadlocks and enforce campaign finance laws
more effectively.

Election Security. H.R. 1 would bring needed improvements to election security by

requiring states to replace paperless electronic voting machines ahead of 2020,
promoting risk-limiting audits, creating grants to help states enhance election security on
an ongoing basis, and ensuring election system vendors meet security requirements,
among other changes.

Government Ethics. Finally, H.R. 1 would bolster enforcement of executive branch

ethics rules, slow the revolving door between the private and public sectors, require

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disclosure of presidential tax returns, tighten restrictions on congressional conflicts of
interest, and require a code of ethics for the Supreme Court among other things.

A fuller explanation of the Brennan Center’s support for the reforms in H.R. 1 can be
found in our submissions to the House Administration, Oversight and Reform, and
Judiciary Committees.

Voters sent a clear message in 2018: They want bold action from Congress. H.R. 1 is a
transformative bill. We strongly support the entire package and urge you to pass it.

Sincerely,

Michael Waldman, President

Wendy R. Weiser, Director, Democracy Program
Spencer P. Boyer, Director, Washington, D.C. Office
Daniel I. Weiner, Senior Counsel