The former US president, Donald Trump, commented on the much-discussed H.R. 1 bill, also known as the “For the People Act,” his remarks repeated by a personal adviser, Jason Miller, who spoke on Wednesday at the conservative War Room Pandemic podcast.
“We have to stop this. We cannot let this go through,” Miller stated, reading Trump’s words.
According to Trump, “the media wants to forget what happened in 2020,” adding that Americans have “a lot of work to do” to stop this bill,” because Democrats “are trying to rig this thing for election going forward.”
“We have no time to waste. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in Congress are racing to pass a flagrantly unconstitutional attack on the First Amendment and the integrity of our elections known as H.R. 1. Do you know what H.R. 1 is? It’s a disaster,” the former president declared.
Trump suggested that the legislature would “drastically restrict political speech, empower the federal government to shut down dissent and turn the Federal Election Commission into a partisan political weapon.” He also slammed the part of the bill, according to which ID verification wouldn’t be necessary for mail-in voting. Trump also criticized "same-day registration" that limits time to verify voters' personal information.
“Can you believe this? Requires states to give ballots to felons. Automatically registers every welfare recipient to vote and puts unaccountable unelected bureaucrats in charge of drawing congressional districts. That’s going to be a lot of fun. This monster must be stopped. It cannot be allowed to pass,” Trump concluded, according to his spokesman.
The bill is intended to widen voting possibilities and make the process of election easier. The reform, proposed by Democrats, obliges among other things that state authorities offer residents the opportunity to receive ballots by mail, and provides for 15-day period for early voting before the Election Day.
A big part of the initiative, including a proposed "automatic registration," "same-day registration" and less-stringent verification process, caused more criticism by Republicans who claim that these bureaucratic easements might open the possibility for election violation.
220 congressmembers in the US House of Representatives voted in support the bill, and 210 voted against, on 3 March. The legislature is now to be considered in the Senate.
