Policy Explainer: Freedom to Vote Act

The Freedom to Vote Act has been reintroduced in Congress, giving us another opportunity to fight for this transformative legislative package and make the promise of American democracy real for all of us.

What’s the Freedom to Vote Act and why does it matter?

The Freedom to Vote Act is a transformative legislative package that will meaningfully expand voting access, particularly for communities who have been historically disenfranchised by our voting systems. The bill improves access to the ballot for Americans, advances commonsense election integrity reforms, and protects our democracy from emerging threats. Importantly, this proposal reflects feedback from state and local election officials to ensure that the people responsible for implementing these reforms are able to do so effectively. This bill also elevates the voices of American voters by ending partisan gerrymandering and rooting out the undue influence of special interest money in our politics.

The bill includes provisions to:

• protect and expand the right to vote including enacting automatic voter registration and online voter registration, making Election Day a public holiday, ensuring voters have access to at least 15 consecutive days of early voting, ensuring every state offers same day registration, creating federal minimum standards on vote by mail and drop boxes, and restoring the right to vote for returning citizens.
• reduce the influence of money in politics
• eliminate partisan and racial gerrymandering

What you can do about it:

• Become a citizen cosponsor of the bill and urge Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.
• Contact your senators using 202-224-3121 and let them know why they should support the Freedom to Vote Act.

How you should talk about it:

We get a lot of questions about messaging, so we’re sharing some tips to help you craft your own statements, posts, and communications about voting legislation.

• Policies like the Freedom to Vote Act are incredibly popular with the American public. Americans want our elections to be safe, accessible, and fair, so use language that speaks to these values. Emphasize how these policies will protect our freedom to vote, ensure every voter’s voice can be heard, and make sure our democracy works for all of us.
• There’s a lot of legislation being talked about right now. You don’t have to be an expert on every detail of every bill in order to show your support for federal legislation like the Freedom to Vote Act. Focus on the pro-voter policies that matter to you most like early voting, vote by mail, online voter registration, same day voter registration, and more.

Additional Resources

• Vote.org's bill tracker is actively monitoring hundreds of anti-voting bills moving across at least 49 states.
• Vote.org’s Twitter, Instagram, and #VoteReady Social Press Kit contain shareable social media content, explainers, and inspiration.