Americans Want President Biden To Fight To Pass The For The People Act
by Adam Eichen and Kevin Rissmiller
Following mounting calls for President Biden to take a more active role in the fight to pass the For The People Act, a new poll from Data For Progress, Equal Citizens, End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund, and The Leadership Conference Education Fund shows it would be in the President’s best political interest to do so.
The For The People Act (H.R. 1/S.1) is a transformative fair elections bill that passed the House of Representatives in March and is currently under consideration in the Senate. In June, all 50 Democratic Senators voted to proceed to debate on the bill, though Republicans blocked progress via a filibuster. After months of pressure from grassroots activists, it has been reported that Senate Democrats will soon release a new version of S. 1 to solidify Democratic support for the bill. And yesterday, they attempted to hold another procedural vote on S.1 to continue to build momentum for its passage. The motion was blocked by Sen. Ted Cruz.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the For The People Act will be the first order of business when the Senate returns from recess in September.
A majority (51 percent) of likely voters said that they would be more likely to support President Biden if he successfully convinced the Senate to pass the For The People Act, including 74 percent of Democrats and 42 percent of Independents. Critically, nearly one in 3 Republican voters would be more likely to support President Biden if he shepherded the For The People Act through Congress, underscoring the bill’s bipartisan appeal. Only 19 percent of voters reported that doing so would make them less likely to support the president.
Notably, the window in which the For The People Act can make the greatest impact is closing. The Census Bureau will release block level data tomorrow (August 12). This will allow states to begin the redistricting process to draw the U.S. House district maps for the 2022-2030 election cycles. After this point, it will become increasingly difficult — though not impossible — to stop state legislatures from engaging in the worst practices to manipulate district lines for partisan advantage.
According to this new polling, Americans strongly approve of S.1’s provisions to prevent gerrymandering. After being informed that the For The People Act would ban partisan gerrymandering and mandate the use of independent redistricting commissions (IRCs) in all fifty states, 60% of likely voters support the redistricting reform provisions of the For the People Act, including 74% of Democrats, 53% of Independents, and 50% of Republicans.
The poll also found that overall support for the For The People Act remains very strong, with 57 percent of likely voters saying that they support the bill — including 80 percent of Democratic voters and 50 percent of Independent voters. This mirrors findings from Data For Progress/Equal Citizens polling in June and April, providing further evidence that the vast majority of Americans want to protect the freedom to vote, end gerrymandering, and reduce the influence of big money in politics.
Over the last handful of months, hundreds of thousands of Americans have taken action to advocate for the For The People Act. Countless organizations, political scientists and scholars of democracy have made the case that our democracy is in deep trouble and that everything — including filibuster reform — must be on the table to ensure the For The People Act’s passage.
Now, more than ever, Americans need — and want — a President who will do whatever it takes to protect the freedom to vote, end partisan gerrymandering, and reduce the role of big money in politics. Instead of asking activists to “out-organize” assaults on our elections, it’s time for the White House to leverage the full force of the bully pulpit to save American democracy.
Adam Eichen (@AdamEichen) is Executive Director of Equal Citizens.
Kevin Rissmiller is a Research Fellow at Equal Citizens.