Episode 32767: Open Democracy Minute for June 21, 2021

You're listening to the Open Democracy Minute, keeping Granite State government by and for the people. This Wednesday or Thursday, the U.S. Senate takes its first vote on the H.R. 1 / S.1 for the People Act, the largest democracy-saving bill in 50 years, and possibly in American history.. With the over new 400 state laws now proposed to maliciously tighten voting access, the For the People Act sets minimum voting standards for elections to override these laws. S. 1 also adds ethic rules and enforcement, makes Dark Money groups disclose who's funding them, protects mail voting, requires early voting, makes online voter registration available nationwide, adds an independent redistricting commission and a whole lot more. Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia has said he won't support the bill as is, and has offered alternatives, including making changes to S.1's voter ID provisions, but also allows voters to use water & property tax bills and other ways to identify voters. He's also suggested that he's open to dropping the 60 votes needed to end the filibuster down to 55, which still may be too high given Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's proclamation that no Republicans will vote for the bill. NH Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen support S.1, but have not made it clear whether they support repealing the filibuster, or modifying it. The Senate switchboard is 888-453-3211. As Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we HAVE, it's something we DO.” For the Open Democracy Minute, I'm Brian Beihl.