[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 3, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FOR THE PEOPLE ACT OF 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 2, 2021

  Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1, the For 
the People Act I am proud to have co-introduced, which includes my 
amendment to further facilitate voting by all eligible Americans 
through the best-practices expansion of vote-by-mail elections.
  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.
  While I applaud the efforts and amendments of my colleagues that 
incorporate lessons learned in this past election, like ensuring 
Americans with disabilities have access to voting and verification 
infrastructure, I believe more can and must be done to analyze the 
greatest possible utilization of mail-in voting throughout our nation. 
My amendment, which has been accepted by the House and added to the 
bill, is needed because we should know what went well and what needs 
improvement as we look to responsibly expand voter access by mail.
  Heading into the 2020 election, five states--Oregon, Washington, 
Colorado, Utah and my Hawaii--held universal vote-by-mail elections, 
with no-excuse absentee voting being an option in 34 states and the 
District of Columbia. The growing concerns over the safety of in-person 
voting during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted an additional 11 states to 
make it easier to vote by mail using absentee ballots.
  The prevalence and easy access to vote-by-mail led, in part, to 
record voter turnout in the last election. Roughly two-thirds of 
eligible voters cast a record 158.4 million ballots, with nearly 65 
million ballots cast using the mail. This is a dramatic increase from 
the 2016 elections, where roughly 34 million Americans cast a ballot by 
mail.
  In my Hawaii, 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 kupuna (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. 
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. My study and the recommendations that will come from it can 
help improve vote-by-mail procedures and systems to ensure the right to 
vote to all eligible Americans while protecting the integrity and 
security of our elections.
  I thank this House for supporting my amendment, and urge this body to 
support final passage of the underlying bill. The For the People Act 
will truly deliver on our obligation to help renew Americans' faith in 
government by making sure it is of and for the people. Mahala (thank 
you).

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