Over the Past Four Years, We’Ve Seen How Fragile and Subject to Corruption Our Democracy Is
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March 9, 2021 Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. 393 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 Dear Senator Casey: Over the past four years, we’ve seen how fragile and subject to corruption our democracy is. With your help we can regain the trust of the American people and bring more security and transparency to the election process. The recently introduced For the People Act (H.R.1/S.1) is a comprehensive package that would get big money out of politics and includes comprehensive voting rights reforms that would modernize and secure our elections. It would finally cut the cord between corporate special interests and Washington cronyism. While Americans turned out in record numbers to vote last year, millions had to jump through too many hoops just to exercise their right to vote. H.R.1/S.1 would address many of the challenges voters experienced in the 2020 election by ensuring that everyone can cast their ballot safely, conveniently, and securely in the future. The bill would eliminate unnecessary barriers to voter registration and boost participation, while setting standardized guidelines for absentee voting, requiring each state to have adequate periods of safe early voting, ensuring no voter faces discrimination, modernizing the voter registration process, and providing states the funding and equipment they need to administer and protect our elections. Just as important as ballot access, this bill would help us finally end dark money and reduce the power of shady corporate influences in politics. Special interests have controlled Washington for far too long and it is time we sever the cord. This legislation would end the dominance of big money and put a stop to the pay-for-play politics by shining a light on dark money, empowering small donors, strengthening campaign finance oversight, fortifying ethics laws, and closing loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents. Our democracy is under attack, and we must do everything we can to protect the values of our Constitution. Please support this much needed legislation. The future of our Democracy depends on these reforms. Sincerely, Senator Jay Costa, 43rd District Senator Anthony H. Williams, 8th District Democratic Leader Senator Vincent Hughes, 7th District Senator Lisa Boscola, 18th District Senator Amanda Cappelletti, 17th District Senator Maria Collett, 12th District Senator Carolyn Comitta, 19th District Senator Wayne Fontana, 42nd District Senator John Kane, 9th District Senator Tim Kearney, 26th District Senator Katie Muth, 44th District Senator Steven Santarsiero, 10th District 2 Senator Nikil Saval, 1st District Senator Judith Schwank, 11th District Senator Sharif Street, 3rd District Senator Christine Tartaglione, 2nd District Senator Lindsey Williams, 38th District 3 .