thebigp

-March 08, 2019---
House Democrats on Friday passed a voting rights and campaign finance reform bill to overhaul the nation’s election process, a bill Republicans say amounts to a federal power grab.
The bill passed the House along party lines in a 234-193 vote, and now heads to the GOP-led Senate, where Republican leaders have pledged to let it die.
The wide-ranging legislation would expand voter registration and ease voter ID requirements while bolstering campaign finance disclosure regulations that Democrats have long tried to increase. Voters would be automatically registered when they receive a driver's license and paper ballots would be required in all elections.
The GOP's fight against socialism is about to get a lot harder
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It would also end state control over redistricting and hand it to newly created federal commissions in an effort to end gerrymandering.
The bill would provide a government match of 6-1 for donations if a candidate accepts only low dollar contributions and would ban large political action committees or PACs that back single candidates.
“We have an opportunity here to reduce the role of dark money in politics and make it easier for Americans to participate in our Democracy,” said Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz. “This is not a partisan issue, this is an American democracy issue and the best solution to cleaning up corruption in Washington.”
Republicans said the measure is written to favor Democrats and would give the federal government too much control over the election system.
“This new Democrat socialist majority wants the federal government to interfere in our free and fair elections,” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Friday “This bill today is a massive government takeover that would undermine the integrity of our elections”
Democrats passed dozens of amendments to the 600 page-bill, including one that would help to pay for the new matching federal campaign contributions by establishing a 2.75 assessment on corporate criminal fines and settlements.
“This fund will be out of money in just a few years because the costs are going to exponentially rise,” said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill. “Clearly taxpayer dollars will have to bail it out.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has labeled the measure the “Democrat Politician Protection Act,” and said he won’t be bringing it up for a vote.
Democrats have been eager to reform campaign finance laws and voter registration laws for many years. They denounced the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizen’s United ruling, which dismantled much of the campaign finance reform law passed in the previous decade, including some limits on campaign finance donations.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested Friday that despite the opposition from the GOP, public support for legislation could pressure the Senate to take it up.
“So the Senate, as you receive this bill, you will also be receiving the aspirations, the mobilizations, the persistence, the relentlessness of the American people to have the government work for them,” Pelosi said. “This is a fight we

source-Susan Ferrechio-wash ex- Ann Kirkpatrick-rep

Wonttakeitanymore

We need to file a lawsuit against demonrat party for thronging our constitution and committing an act of treason! Now we need to accelerate to Supreme Court! Voter ID law of the land and no one mail ballots, and appoint independent audits of voted and budgets

Smedley_buzkill

Paper ballots might be a good idea. The rest of the bill is garbage, designed to let wetbacks vote for Democrats.

Airforceone

So voter rights is now socialism why is the right wing against voter rights. Why would this country want Dark money in our election process due to citizens united. Why is the right wing against an easier way of voter registration.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Voters rights for illegals is not a right you raving maniac.. Good grief!!!

They have no rights until a citizen or have you never read the constitution??

Smedley_buzkill

I almost hope he gets to see the kind of country he wants; because the very next day he'will be out in the field picking lettuce.

JoyV

I agree, except it is even worse.

It give more power to the Federal government over the states.

anti-gerrymandering measures would simply make it far easier to gerrymander through the government agency whose power would be such that local citizens would have far less control in stopping any abuse.

If the campaign finance regulations include the measure they have been trying to get, which is to be able to publicly list all donors of political contributions; people would have no privacy to donate as they will. Suppose a teacher wanted to make a donation to a Republican. The outing could make her have to face the displeasure or worse of her fellow teachers and administrators. In some careers or situations the repercussion could be worse.

And then there would be the cost.

No this would not make the government work for the people but take more power from the people and states and put it in the control of the federal government.

Unfortunately I can see many citizens applauding this who do not look beyond the rhetoric.

woodguru

State elections should have federal rules that apply to all states, there needs to be election standards, voting machine standards, recount standards, the ability for the systems to do provide hard counts that match a votes cast number, and standards of numbers of people served by polling stations need to be applied. Laws and courts need to apply to all states the same. ID laws make sense, what does not is trying to do signature matching when the picture matches.

We have some problem states that are selectively making it hard to vote by districts.

Voting laws will take work and perfecting, but we are seeing problems over and over in the same states, and it needs to stop.

woodguru

How are we supposed to fix the really really badly gerrymandered states and districts, the ones we can see obviously are skewed so that the people are not able to reflect their values according to their population? It is not okay for a state with a 60/40 split that has 70/30 splits of elected officials and majorities and super majorities, and they maintain those majorities by manipulating elections. The right sees nothing wrong with cheating as long as it's in their favor. Show me a state that has ten percent more of one party that is controlled by the minority people and there is problems.

Disclosure laws have nothing to do with a teacher making grass roots small donations, it is about knowing where the big money is coming from.

woodguru

Paper ballots is perhaps the heart of where election integrity needs to start, the voter side of things can be worked on. Right now we are doing nothing constructive election after election.

Smedley_buzkill

It is more difficult to hack a paper ballot.

JoyV

Sitting back and trusting big brother to take care of problems in your back yard is irresponsible as well as stupid. It is the citizens of the state, county or district which have the responsibility to keep their elections
fair and legal. If too many people had not abdicated such responsibility over time, the mess would be far less today!

Disclosure laws apply to any allowed by the wording of the law in question. And how large is large? There have been disclosure laws which include contributions as small as $100. If the person signs in online for a monthly contribution, even $10 per month would put them over the minimum limit. And there have been bills which have no lower limit.

Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

Gee, another tree falls and no-one hears it. Imagine that. I wonder what they'll waste their time and energy on next week...

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Why are the dems for illegals even trying to pass a bill for illegals to vote?? Along with fighting every effort made by President Trump to secure our borders??

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

If even kept alive....