The past two days, we have shared a list of the provisions in the new Freedom to Vote Act. The first section is here, and the second section is here. Today, we're sharing the third section.
Here is the full text of the bill. Section 3 (of 3) is broken down below.
Section 3: Civic Participation and Empowerment
This section includes provisions to prevent partisan manipulation of the redistricting process, establishes uniform disclosure standards for money in politics, and empowers states to make critical investments in their election systems.
Non-Partisan Redistricting Reform and Banning Partisan Gerrymandering
- Requires states to abide by specific criteria for congressional redistricting and makes judicial remedies available for states’ failure to comply. Allows states to choose how to develop redistricting plans, including the option of having an independent redistricting commission.
- Requires states to draw districts within communities of interest
- Prohibits political gerrymandering
- Any citizen can sue within 30 days of maps drawn (or within 30 days of this bill being signed into law)
- Requires courts to hold hearings with in 15 days
- Requires transparency when drawing maps, including: public websites, allowance for public comments,
- Public hearings held both before and after maps are drawn.
- Creates judicial review
Combatting Secret Money and Election Interference (DISCLOSE Act and Honest Ads Act)
- Requires super PACs, 501(c)(4) groups, and other organizations spending money in elections to disclose donors and shuts down the use of transfers between organizations to cloak the identity of contributors. Ensures that political ads sold online have the same transparency and disclosure requirements as ads sold on TV, radio, and satellite.
- Requires analysis after each election to determine the amount of foreign money spent to carry out disinformation/propaganda campaigns, with a report an how the success failure in the following communities
- Rural Communities
- Black, Minority
- Military/Veterans
- Prohibits foreign money from being used for ballot initiatives
- Prohibits the establishment of a corporation to conceal contributions
- Requires posting of Federal Judiciary nomination spending
- Requires disclosure of who paid for on-line ads
- Text of who paid for ad as large as majority of text
- For videos, text of who paid for add must appear for at least 4 seconds
- Requires on-line companies to keep records of all purchases of over $500 in one year
- Requires on-line platforms to display notices identifying sponsors of all political adds
State Election Assistance and Innovation Fund
- Establishes a self-sustaining fund to finance critical investments in state-led innovations for our democracy and election infrastructure. The fund is financed through an additional assessment paid on federal fines, penalties, and settlements for certain tax crimes and corporate malfeasance. States would be allotted an annual distribution for eligible democracy and election-related investments. States could select to access their full distribution or a partial distribution, or roll over their distribution for future use.
- Allows states to opt in to a matching fund for small donor campaign donations
Nonpartisan Oversight of Federal Election Law
- Improves the ability of the Federal Election Commission to carry out oversight and enforcement responsibilities.
- Extends statute of limitations for violations to 10years
- Stopping Illicit Super PAC Coordination
- Creates “coordinated spender” category to ensure single-candidate super PACs do not operate as arms of campaigns.
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Cross-posted from Demcast USA
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