With S1 going to markup before the U.S. Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, May 11, the inherent hypocrisy behind HR1/S1 - the ‘For the People Act’ must be called out. But it won't happen as part of the public hearing process, because there won’t be any one present that will raise it.

U.S. democracy is in existential crisis.

The country already suffers from unrepresentative winner-take-all, single-seat-district legislative elections, a two-party duopoly, partisan gerrymandering, the corrupting influence of big money in politics, and an Electoral College and US Senate that give vastly outsized influence to some voters over others. In the case of the Electoral College, it can also prevent the presidential candidate receiving the most votes from being elected.

January 6, 2021 was — to borrow a line from a famous speech by former president Franklin Roosevelt — a day which will live in infamy. Two days later, Twitter announced that it had permanently banned @realDonaldTrump’s Twitter account due to violations of its “Glorification of Violence” policy. Other social media companies were quick to follow suit.

The House on Wednesday, March 3, passed HR 1, also known as the "For The People Act," which provides sweeping reform to US elections, including on the subjects of gerrymandering, election security, and the corruptive influence of foreign entities in US elections. The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote, with one Democrat joining Republicans to vote against it.

Editor's Note: Please see the corresponding number in the "Notes" for the source of the information.

Introduction

Now more than ever, police misconduct has rocketed to the forefront of our national conversation.

Unfortunately, the current system has proven unequipped to handle this misconduct and hold police accountable for their actions. (1) After all, an outsized number of police officers who violate their duties are never tried for their offenses, and those who are fired often “police hop” to policing jobs elsewhere. (2)

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum, and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

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Progressive groups may use the courts to pursue even more wide-open absentee balloting in Missouri this year.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Thursday that requires election administrators to mail ballots to all registered voters across the state. The bill ensures all voters have the option to vote by mail amidst ongoing health concerns related to COVID-19, though some races may take weeks to be officially resolved as ballots can now be received up to 17 days after Election Day.

Here is what you need to know:

Editor's Note: This article originally published on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

Compromise legislation that would make it easier to vote absentee in North Carolina this fall, and safer to vote in person, has been cleared with bipartisan support in the General Assembly.

The US Supreme Court blocked an attempt to delay voting in Wisconsin's presidential primary over the coronavirus pandemic.

The 5-4 vote reversed an order that would have extended the absentee ballot deadline for voting in the Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed an executive order suspending in-person voting Monday after failing to convince the Wisconsin state legislature to postpone elections until May.

The Supreme Court was considering a case brought before Evers issued his executive order.

UPDATE: An important court case that could change the way the court views partisanship in the courtroom will be heading to the Supreme Court on March 25th. At stake is whether party affiliation, when it comes to judges, can be a criterion for the who gets elected. Read the following update following the lower court's decision originally published by Richard Winger in Ballot Access News.