Biden Executive Order to Improve Voting Access Shows Strong Commitment to Making Our Elections Fairer

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WASHINGTON – President Biden on Sunday issued an executive order to improve voting access, calling on federal agencies to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and participate in the electoral process. 

Also, for the first time, the executive order directs the Attorney General of the United States to establish procedures to provide for voter education, registration and voting in the Bureau of Prisons. Historically, the inability to share this kind of data with election administrators served as a key barrier to achieving equity with voting access. 

Statement by Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center, and a Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission: 

“This executive order – combined with White House support for the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – shows a strong commitment by the Biden-Harris Administration to making our elections freer, fairer and more inclusive. By deploying the resources of the federal government to protect voting rights, America can streamline its voter registration process and improve on its record-setting voter participation in 2020. This executive order represents the kind of progress that serves as a fitting honor to the legacy of Congressman John Lewis on Bloody Sunday. Follow-through on this executive order will be key to ensuring the administration meets its laudable goal of allowing all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy. 

Issues
Voting and Elections

Gaspee Project v. Mederos

At a Glance

CLC assisted in the successful defense of a Rhode Island transparency law requiring groups that spend significant amounts of money to influence state elections to disclose their spending and certain contributors to voters.  

Status
Closed
Updated
Issues
Campaign Finance
About This Case/Action

In 2019, the Gaspee Project and Illinois Opportunity Project, two nonprofit advocacy organizations that wanted to spend thousands of dollars distributing election-related mailers to Rhode Island voters without identifying themselves or their large contributors to the public, initiated a First Amendment challenge to Rhode Island’s political transparency regime. They challenged three components of Rhode Island law, including requirements that: (1) groups spending $1,000 or more to influence elections — through campaign spending or political ads —disclose donors who gave at least $1,000 and did not expressly prohibit their donation from being used for election-related purposes; (2) groups working to influence Rhode Island elections include disclaimers on advertisements stating who paid for them; and (3) certain organizations making election-related expenditures disclose their top five donors during the previous year on electioneering ads.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC), along with Common Cause Rhode Island and the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, filed an amicus brief in defense of Rhode Island’s disclosure and disclaimer requirements in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which rejected the plaintiffs’ constitutional challenge in September 2021.

The plaintiffs sought review of that decision in the U.S. Supreme Court but only with respect to the top-five donor disclaimer provision. CLC served as co-counsel to the state defendants, along with the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General. The Supreme Court ultimately denied the challengers’ petition, letting Rhode Island’s transparency measures stand. 

Plaintiffs

Gaspee Project

Defendant

Mederos

CLC’s Trevor Potter Praises House for Passing the For the People Act

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Washington, D.C. –Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the For the People Act, H.R.1, a critical step toward addressing the most pressing challenges facing our democracy. This is a comprehensive set of reforms that improves access to the ballot, strengthens ethics laws, ends partisan gerrymandering and decreases the influence of wealthy special interests in our political system. These changes are needed to make our democracy work for the American people.

“H.R.1 is a sorely needed legislative solution to address the harmful malfunctions and abuses in our election system, and this landmark bill will make our government more accessible, transparent and responsive,” said Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Republican former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). “Now that the bill has passed in the House, the Senate should embrace these reforms and send the For the People Act to President Biden’s desk for him to sign it into law.”

The For the People Act has broad public support, with more than 68% of likely voters saying they would back the proposal. This bill does not give power to one particular party over the other; it gives power back to the voters by reducing the influence of wealthy special interests, ensuring accurate elections and protecting voting rights. Many of its provisions come from bills introduced in previous sessions of Congress with bipartisan sponsorship.

Many elected officials have pledged to prioritize democracy reform, and they should make good on their promise. Americans deserve to have a government that is accessible, transparent and responsive to the people.

 

Issues
Campaign Finance
Ethics
Redistricting
Voting and Elections
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