The Open Our Democracy Act is a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives by U.S. Representative John Delaney. The bill would establish

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...

as a federal holiday, mandate open and top-two

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s so that all eligible voters can participate in them, and end gerrymandering by requiring independent commissions to draw the districts in each state.

History

The bill has been cosponsored by House representatives John Yarmuth,

Derek Kilmer Derek Christian Kilmer (born January 1, 1974) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the Washington House ...

, Jared Polis, and Scott Peters. The most recently documented action on it was a review by the

United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice The Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government is one of six subcommittees of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing comm ...

. It has not yet been voted on or gone on the

House Calendar The House Calendar is a calendar in the United States House of Representatives that schedules major bills which do not involve raising revenue or public expenditure of funds. The calendar can also be defined as a list of all bills reported from ...

. Delaney submitted the current version of the bill on July 21, 2017, in the

115th Congress The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January 3 ...

. Delaney had previously proposed two similar bills, one in 2015 (H.R. 2655 of the

114th Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Ja ...

), and another 2014 (H.R. 5334 of the

113th Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

). In both cases, the House did not bring the bill to a vote.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Full text of the bill

- Washington Post Proposed legislation of the 113th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 114th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 115th United States Congress United States proposed federal government administration legislation Electoral reform in the United States

History

See also

References

External links