The Poison Pill In The For The People Act
H.R. 1 contains provisions that would undermine alternative parties
According to the summary on Congress.gov, “This bill addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and ethics for the three branches of government.” As with the recent pandemic relief bill, there are indeed some good things in H.R. 1, including provisions for automatic voter registration, protections for early and mail-in voting, reforms to prevent voter roll purges, and other welcome changes. However, it also contains some provisions that seem to be aimed at making it harder for already-disadvantaged alternative parties to operate, and there doesn’t seem to be much being said about it.
The US Green Party calls out problematic areas of the bill on their website, most notably Section 5202(a). This provision raises the qualifying threshold for federal matching funds for presidential campaigns “from $5,000 raised in each of 20 states to $25,000 per state in 20 states.”
The Green Party also mentions other provisions which would abolish block grants for general elections which parties can currently access by gaining 5% of the vote in the previous election, and take “a step backwards” by replacing them with matching funds; eliminate limits on candidate’s expenditures and donations they…
