The Senate is expected to take up the House-passed bill, which would standardize federal elections across the country — making voting easier for college students.
Sweeping changes to voting and federal election processes are on the agenda in the Senate, and if Congress is able to pass the Democratic-led voting rights package, it’s almost certain to have an impact on college students and campuses across the country.
The Senate plans to vote Tuesday to move forward with the For the People Act, also known as HR 1, which passed the House on March 3. Its future looks bleak — there are no Republicans who support the legislation, meaning it won’t meet the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the filibuster in the Senate. Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has also said he would vote against the bill but has since offered up a compromise.
The 886-page bill has 10 titles centered around voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and government ethics. It seeks to set national standards for modernizing voter registration and improving voter access in elections, which could be especially consequential for college students and young voters.
Those minimum standards are important because they would help students better understand how to vote, regardless of where they are, said Michael Burns, national director of the Campus Vote Project.