U.S. House Passes Major Government Reform Measure

Press Release

Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) announced today that his amendment to strengthen mail-in balloting was included in the landmark H.R. 1 "For the People" measure that he co-introduced this year and once again passed the full U.S. House of Representatives.

In remarks to the full House, Case said:
"Our "For the People Act' is a truly revolutionary bill that will implement many of the most critical government reform efforts we need to get government working for the people again, such as fighting voter suppression, simplifying voting, promoting election security, curbing special interest and dark money in politics, incentivizing smaller and broader donations, increasing transparency and fortifying ethics laws."

"In my Hawai"i, which performed its first universal vote-by-mail election in the 2020 primary elections, vote-by-mail increased election accessibility across-the-board, especially for our kūpuna (elders) and those in underserved communities for whom in-person voting is problematic, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Hawaii's most recent primary election resulted in the highest voter turnout percentage for a primary election in our state's history, and more people voted in Hawaii's general election than ever before.

"We demonstrated to ourselves and the rest of the country that we can hold an all-mail election with virtually no fraud claims or disputed election results."

"Despite Hawaii's success, I am sure we can do even better, and there are best practices that can be shared amongst the states across our nation to encourage the even more widespread adoption of vote-by-mail," said Case.

"Thus, my amendment simply directs the Election Assistance Commission to conduct a study on vote-by-mail efforts in 2020 elections and develop recommendations to help states better administer their elections in the future."

Case added: "this is what drove me to re-enter government when I campaigned for a return to Congress in 2018, and there was no other issue out on the campaign trail across my district that so unified people."

Case said the bill, which was first introduced in the 116th Congress in 2019 and approved in the House but failed to pass the Senate, "was driven by my Reformers Caucus and many other grassroots groups and our supporters in Congress and will go a long way toward returning government to the people -- where it belongs."

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