Michigan reps. split on support of For The People Act

US House passes bill impacting election processes, voting rights

The United States House passed the For the People Act, which could become the biggest expansion to federal voting rights since the 1960s.

The For the People Act is a bill that aims to change who can participate in elections, campaign finance and ethics laws in addition to protecting and expanding voting rights.

“HR-1 is extremely important because it’s about returning the power back to the American people,” U.S. House Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) said of the bill.

Lawrence says that the bill’s ability to protect and expand the right to vote is one of my main reasons why she voted for HR-1 -- another name for the bill.

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The U.S. House voted in favor to pass the bill with bipartisan support. The bill includes two amendments, including appointing election mail coordinators and prohibiting any new operational changes that would delay the prompt delivery of voting materials within 120 days.

“The vote-by-mail concept -- that was a first time it’s been used on that scale -- for so many people (meant) that it was actually an opportunity for them to participate in their democracy,” Lawrence said.

However, Rep. Bill Huizenga, of Michigan’s 2nd congressional district, disagrees and voted against the bill. Huizenga says the states should have power when it comes to the election process.

“Quite honestly and easily, elections are laid out in the Constitution as a responsibility of the states. Empowering the federal government, and having the federal government mandate things like six to one contribution matches doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.