The House of Representatives has passed comprehensive laws to secure the freedom to vote. The For the People Act, also known as House Resolution 1, is the most comprehensive voting legislation since the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts, proposed reducing the voting age to 16 on the House floor, but it was rejected. Another bill to end prison disenfranchisement was rejected after 119 Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, proposed the amendment.
Rep. Cori Bush said “Right now more than 5 million people are legally barred from participating in our elections as a result of criminal laws. That is one in 44 Americans, 500,000 Latinx Americans, 1.2 million women and one in six Black folks. This cannot continue. Disenfranchising our own citizens, it is not justice.”
