WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats unveiled legislation Wednesday aimed at making it easier for people to vote and curbing the influence of big money in politics, a measure destined to go nowhere in the Republican-run Senate but likely to be used by Democrats to make populist appeals in next year’s election campaigns.
The measure by chief sponsor Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., is co-sponsored by every Senate Democrat and is filled with provisions supporters say will make government more responsive to voters.
Those include automatic voter registration, expanded mail-in voting and independent commissions to draw congressional districts. Political groups would be required to disclose donors, lawmakers would be banned from for-profit corporate boards, small campaign contributions would be matched by federal dollars and presidential candidates would be required to release their tax returns — a response to President Donald Trump, who flouted decades of precedent and has refused to disclose his.
The measure by chief sponsor Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., is co-sponsored by every Senate Democrat and is filled with provisions supporters say will make government more responsive to voters.
Those include automatic voter registration, expanded mail-in voting and independent commissions to draw congressional districts. Political groups would be required to disclose donors, lawmakers would be banned from for-profit corporate boards, small campaign contributions would be matched by federal dollars and presidential candidates would be required to release their tax returns — a response to President Donald Trump, who flouted decades of precedent and has refused to disclose his.
