Free Parking

The jewel in the crown of democracy is free and fair elections. The very heart of majority rule is that everyone is given a say and the majority of the people determine the direction of policy and law. Recently, some of our lesser informed citizens stated that even if Russia hacked our elections, it didn’t matter or hurt democracy, which totally contradicts free and fair elections.

In the late 1700s in America, Saturdays were market days, and Election Day was mid-week on the first Tuesday of November as a convenience to voters. Today, our work schedule is completely different; we mainly work Monday through Friday and it’s difficult for many people to schedule voting into Tuesday’s work day.

H.R.1, called The People’s Bill, is the first bill introduced by the 116^th Congress with Speaker Pelosi at the helm. This bill addresses inequality issues with voting. It includes automatic voter registration with Election Day as a national holiday.

Not surprisingly, the Republicans are horrified by both ideas. Senate Leader McConnell (R) calls this a “power grab” by Democrats. It’s as though Republicans know if everyone who was eligible voted, their agenda would be soundly defeated.

Republicans have been in the minority for decades so long ago they dropped any pretense of having policies and have gone straight to cheating to maintain their power. Over the past 60 years voters have fled the Republican Party so they retaliated with one of the most egregious and anti-democratic acts, gerrymandering voting districts. Republicans, masters of the gerrymander, have maintained their power, even though the majority consistently votes Democratic.      

In 2009, the right leaning SCOTUS gave corporations carte blanche to buy elections with unlimited cash; then in 2013, the same court gutted key portions of the towering piece of voting legislation; the Civil Rights Act. These two rulings have given the wealthy unfettered control over our elections, and now Democrats are determined to reel in these antidemocratic and unethical practices that countermand fair elections.

Finally, Republicans’ greed and lack of policy has awakened voters; The People’s Bill is a blueprint to taking our democracy back.