In the Fall of 2021, Senate Democrats introduced the Freedom to Vote Act, a revised version of the For the People Act. This bill was the most significant, expansive, and game-changing federal democracy bill in generations. It included automatic voter registration, same day registration, 15 days of early voting, accessible vote-by-mail standards, protections against voter purging, and a ban on partisan gerrymandering. It also addressed big money in politics by increasing disclosure of who is influencing our elections and stopping coordination between candidates and Super PACs. And it would have changed how campaigns are funded by creating both a small-donor matching program and a democracy voucher program that states can opt into.
Equal Citizens was a core member of the coalition fighting for this federal bill. We conducted polling, ran grassroots advocacy campaigns, and pressured senators to reform the filibuster rules to allow the bill to pass. Despite a majority of the House and Senate supporting the bill, because only 48 senators voted in favor of filibuster reform, the bill could not pass.