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House Passes Democratic Ethics and Election Law Overhaul Bill

Pelosi called the vote a "historic, pivotal day," while McConnell blasted the legislation as a "hostile one-sided takeover of the electoral process"

The House on Friday passed the Democrats' top legislative priority, NBC News reported: A massive bill that would expand voting access and revamp ethics regulations, including requiring presidential candidates to release tax documents.

To make it easier to vote, the new bill proposes a range of reforms such as requiring that states institute automatic voter registration for eligible unregistered citizens. The legislation would also target "dark money" in politics by requiring Super PACs, 501(c)4 nonprofit groups and other organizations spending money in elections to disclose donors who contribute more than $10,000, and it would expand a conflict of interest law and divestment requirements for public officials.

“H.R. 1 restores the people’s faith that government works for the public’s interests, the people’s interests — not the special interests,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a news conference before the vote on the steps of the Capitol.

Pelosi called the vote a “historic, pivotal day,” despite the fact that the measure faces a dead end in the GOP-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has blasted it as a Democratic "power grab."

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