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Pocan Joins House Democrats in Introducing the For the People Act

January 4, 2019

WASHINGTON, DC (January 4, 2019) U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) today joined the new House Democratic majority in introducing H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a sweeping package of pro-democracy and anti-corruption reforms that will put the power back in the hands of the American people by ending the dominance of big money in politics; making it easier, not harder, to vote; and ensuring that politicians actually serve the public interest.

Pocan is a Vice-chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force and is an original cosponsor of the legislation. Several parts of bills Pocan has introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives have been included in H.R. 1, including one that limits the authority of states to remove voters from election rolls based on interstate voter registration cross-checks, as well as one that requires the use of paper ballots.

"House Democrats ran on a campaign platform of restoring power to the American people and cleaning up the corruption in Washington," said Pocan. "When millions of American voters made their choice clear in November, they delivered a strong mandate for us to govern and today we are taking the first of many steps to reform our democracy."

"Republicans have long used the interstate voter registration cross-check system as a means of suppressing voters and refused to acknowledge the threat that foreign governments and cyber-attacks pose to our elections. However, Democrats are committed to strengthening the security of our voting systems, expanding the right to vote rather than limiting it, ending the out-of-control influence of big money in politics, and ensuring that our nation's leaders are working for the people," continued Pocan. "I'm extremely proud to introduce this legislation as an original cosponsor and I look forward to working with my colleagues on these reforms over the coming months."

Pocan previously introduced the Voter Roll Integrity Act (H.R. 3091), which would strengthen voter protections by ensuring that states can no longer erroneously purge voter rolls without the knowledge or consent of active and still-eligible voters through the interstate voter registration cross-check program. He has also introduced the Secure America's Future Elections Act (H.R. 1562), which would address election standards to protect against cyber-threats, better voting machines that provide paper ballots, and mandate random audits of ballots to thwart interference.

More information on H.R. 1 is available here.

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