The Open Our Democracy Act is a bill introduced in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
by U.S. Representative
John Delaney. The bill would establish
Election Day as a
federal holiday, mandate
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979
* ''Open'' (Go ...
and
top-two primary elections 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 served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district from 2013 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party ...
,
Jared Polis
Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...
, 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. It has not yet been voted on or gone on the
House Calendar.
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 ...
. Delaney had previously proposed two similar bills, one in 2015 (H.R. 2655 of the
114th Congress), and another 2014 (H.R. 5334 of the
113th Congress).
In both cases, the House did not bring the bill to a vote.
See also
*
Electoral reform in the United States
*
Redistricting
Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.
The U.S. Constitution in Art ...
*
United States congressional apportionment
United States congressional apportionment is the process by which seats in the United States House of Representatives are distributed among the 50 states according to the most recent decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. ...
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