Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has scheduled a virtual town hall where she said she will call on her supporters to pressure the U.S. Senate to pass the For the People Act.
Some people also refer to the bill as H.R. 1.
Abrams announced she and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA-05) will host what they call a Hot Call Summer Town Hall at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The For the People Act, if enacted into law, would nationalize federal elections. The proposed law would require that states automatically register residents to vote and also require absentee ballot drop boxes. The For the People Act would also eliminate state restrictions on mail-in voting, require same-day voter registration, and gut state voter identification laws.
Abrams emailed supporters Wednesday and told them they must act.
“Our vote is our voice, yet anti-voter legislators in 48 states across the country are trying to silence voters—especially voters of color—with over 400 anti-voter bills,” Abrams said.
“We need federal action now. The most important thing you can do to help protect your freedom to vote—no matter which state you live in—is to contact your U.S. Senators and let them know that YOU want them to pass the For the People Act, also known as S 1/HR 1.”
In April, Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee sparred with Abrams during a hearing on Democrats’ voting rights bill. They also clashed with Abrams over election reforms that Republicans have introduced in states across the country.
The hearing consisted of testimony from officials on opposite sides of the issue. Democrats largely focused on GOP-led policies that they likened to those from the Jim Crow era, while Republicans blasted the comparison and said that the bills’ goals were to make it harder to cheat, not to vote.
Ken Cuccinelli, the former senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said last month that “H.R. 1 would open up our elections to partisan interference and fraud.”
“By intentionally barring even the most basic verification of mail-in ballots, H.R. 1 would worsen Americans’ distrust of our election system,” Cuccinelli wrote.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
