{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-golden-bipartisan-colleagues-introduce-election-reform-and-integrity-legislation", "ICYMI: Golden, bipartisan colleagues introduce election reform and integrity legislation", "2025-01-22", "2025", "2025-01", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Jared F. Golden", "G000592", "golden.house.gov", "golden", "https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 This month, Reps. Jared Golden (ME-02), Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), and Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) introduced the bipartisan Let America Vote Act.\n\nThe legislation addresses two key principles in the continued fight for election reform and integrity:\n\nThe right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any taxpayer-funded election for public office shall not be denied or abridged on the grounds of political party affiliation or lack thereof.\n\nRequires States to permit access to unaffiliated voters to vote in primary elections for Federal Office.\n\nWithholds Federal Funds if a State does not permit access to unaffiliated voters to vote in primary elections for State and Local Office.\n\nProvides additional Federal Funds for States to transition to access to primary elections for unaffiliated voters.\n\nProtects the information and independence of unaffiliated voters by restricting the use of their voter data.\n\nNo person who is not a citizen shall be permitted or granted the right to vote in any taxpayer-funded election for public office held by or in the United States or any State.\n\nProhibits States from permitting non-citizens to vote in elections for Federal office.\n\nWithholds Federal funds if a State permits non-citizens to vote in elections for State and local office.\n\n\u201cParticipating in our democracy is a central right of citizens, and voters unaffiliated with any political party deserve to have their voices heard throughout the entire political process,\u201d Golden said. \u201cLast year, Maine opened our primaries to unenrolled voters for the first time. The Let America Vote Act will bring this victory for democracy to the entire country. Across the world, the awesome and exclusive rights of citizens are intrinsically linked to equally awesome and exclusive responsibilities. You cannot have one without the other. So, this bill also affirms that no matter where you live in our country, the right to vote in the United States is a right reserved for citizens alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn Southwest Washington, we value our independence, know that our beliefs don\u2019t always fit neatly into one box, and recognize there\u2019s not a political party that cares about our community like we do. Good ideas come from both sides of the aisle, and they originate on the ground in our communities, so Americans shouldn\u2019t be denied the right to vote for the candidate of their choosing because they aren\u2019t affiliated with a national political party,\u201d Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez said. \u201cA healthy, functioning democracy also depends on free, fair, and secure elections. We need to uphold the constitutional ideal that decisions made for our country are made by citizens of our country \u2013 and our bipartisan legislation will protect the integrity of Americans\u2019 choices at the ballot box.\u201d\n\n\"The opportunity to vote is a sacred right of all American citizens. Regrettably, Independent Americans, who by many measures make up more than 40% of the population, are disenfranchised in many state primaries. This is especially true today due to gerrymandering of safe electoral districts by self-interested politicians. This bill ensures these tens of millions of Americans are able to vote in primaries and brings more competition to our elections,\" Rye Barcott, Co-Founder and CEO of With Honor Action said. \"This is great for democracy irrespective of one\u2019s political party. With Honor Action fully endorses it and applauds Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Co-Chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus and former FBI agent, and Rep. Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran and former Co-Chair of the For Country Caucus, for leading this Act. Let\u2019s get it passed.\"\n\n\u201cThe Let America Vote Act is a critical piece of legislation to ensure that all Americans have access to safe and secure elections. In particular, with estimates that over 50% of military veterans identify as registered independents, this legislation ensures that those who have given the most in service to this country, have the basic right to vote in the taxpayer funded elections we have fought to protect,\u201d Todd Connor, Co-Founder of Veterans for All Voters said. \u201cForcing voters to join a private political party in order to vote in primary elections, which are overwhelmingly the election of consequence across this nation, is un-American and contributes to the polarization that plagues our political system. Veterans across the country applaud the bills co-sponsors and encourage other members to join this common sense legislation.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers previously introduced the legislation in the 118th Congress.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T23:38:47Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-golden-bipartisan-colleagues-introduce-election-reform-and-integrity-legislation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.715319998562336, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}