by Ash Orr
It’s not too often that you get a whole room of people — especially a room of politicians — to agree on a contentious national issue. But the Morgantown City Council members did just that when they came together to unanimously pass a resolution in support of the For the People Act (H.R.1 / S.1) and to call on all our federal representatives to support it as well.
If you’re only listening to media pundits or to national political leaders, you might be surprised to see agreement on this issue. But if you talk to your neighbors, you won’t be. This is an important point that Sen. Joe Manchin got wrong in his recent op-ed on the bill — there is strong bipartisan support from the public to protect the freedom to vote, ban partisan gerrymandering and stop billionaires from buying elections. A recent poll released by the nonpartisan group Represent Us found that 71% of West Virginians (including 66% of Trump voters) support the For the People Act.
Our representatives should support voting rights on a bipartisan basis, and intransigence by Republicans in Congress on this is regrettable and frustrating. But it just shows how out of touch they are with their own constituents. We encourage Sen. Manchin to not make the same mistake.
At this point, all of us are aware of our political system’s problems. Politicians from both parties use partisan gerrymandering and deliberate barriers to voting to rig elections in their favor and hold onto power. Meanwhile, the same politicians carry out the bidding of special interests and donors that fund their campaigns, rather than represent the majority of their voters.
The end result? Extremism and partisanship that have left Congress so broken and dysfunctional that it cannot even pass a bipartisan commission investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol — an attack on American democracy itself.
As written in the resolution, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective self-governance. With many states seeking to further limit access to the ballot box and entrench their own political power, we find ourselves at a watershed moment in American history in which federal action is vitally needed.
The For the People Act is certainly bold, representing the most significant piece of voting legislation since the Civil Rights Act. But it’s also important to remember that the proposed reforms have all already been tested and implemented around the country by election administrators of both parties. Partisan special interests are spreading misinformation about the bill and its feasibility, but West Virginians deserve the truth: The For the People Act is common sense and needed to protect our democracy.
The sponsors of the For the People Act have also introduced changes to the law so that rural states, including West Virginia, have the flexibility they need to implement it. This happened in response to input received from election clerks and state and local elected officials from both parties. These changes include additional time for states to make any needed updates to voting machines, implement automatic voter registration at offices like DMVs and roll out same-day voter registration at polling places.
It’s time to get this done. There’s nothing more important right now than to take action to preserve our democracy for generations to come. The For the People Act would go a long way to curing the problems that plague our politics, and the overwhelming majority of Americans support it. The only thing that’s missing is an affirmative vote in the Senate.
I join Morgantown City Council in urging Sen. Joe Manchin to reconsider his position and vote “yes” on the For the People Act. I hope you’ll join us, too.
Ash Orr lives in Morgantown and is the West Virginia organizer for Represent Us.
