Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) announced that his bill, the Voter NOTICE Act, will be included in H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a landmark anti-corruption, voter protection, and campaign finance reform package co-sponsored by every House Democrat.

Phillips’s Voter Notification of Timely Information about Changes in Elections (NOTICE) Act would require election officials to reach out to every registered voter to notify them of any change to state election rules, including changes to early and mail-in voting, that are made in response to public emergencies. Officials would also be required to produce public awareness campaigns on television and social media to ensure that all new voting procedures are clearly communicated to the public.

“Our politics have been infected by disinformation,” said Rep. Phillips. “The past year has clearly shown that bad actors will exploit emergencies to mislead Americans and subvert the will of the people. The antidote is truth—and the Voter NOTICE Act would deliver it.”

H.R. 1 was the first bill Rep. Phillips co-sponsored after he was elected to Congress in 2018. The House is expected to vote on H.R. 1 later this week. 

Phillips addressed the House shortly before the Voter NOTICE Act was added to H.R. 1:

Remarks as prepared: 

Madam Speaker – I rise today to speak in favor of my amendment, which would include my legislation, the VOTER Notice Act, in H.R. 1.  Voter NOTICE is simple – whenever a state changes their election procedures in response to an emergency, they must also ensure that their voters are informed about these changes.  Taking steps to ensure folks can vote safely are undermined if voters don't know about them.

My amendment would require that State perform robust, accessible outreach to every voter and public education campaigns so that voters know how to exercise their rights in our constitutional democracy.

As we have seen over the past year, bad actors are all too ready to exploit uncertainty to mislead Americans and subvert the will of the people. As a result, our politics have become infected by disinformation.  The antidote is Truth, and the Voter NOTICE Act would deliver it.