Alan Khazei, MA-04 Candidate, Releases Plan To Fix Our Democracy

ALAN KHAZEI, CITY YEAR CO-FOUNDER AND
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR MA-04,
RELEASES PLAN TO FIX OUR DEMOCRACY

Harvard Professor and Democracy Reform Champion, Larry Lessig endorses Alan’s Plan for Democracy Reform

“Alan is a national movement leader who has fought to protect and empower the voices of all people. Nowhere is this work more critical than in fixing our democracy. Alan’s leadership will deliver real change to help end the corruption in Washington and restore the voice of the people.” - Larry Lessig

“We The People need to stand up to the special interests that dominate Washington. We need to take back our democracy by ensuring voting rights, ending the corruption in Washington, and enacting dramatic political reform. I don’t want to go to Congress alone. I want to bring the people with me and use their spirit, commitment and energy to bust open the doors of Congress, break the logjam and bring about transformational change. We will put people before politics and restore government Of, By and For the people.” - Alan Khazei

(Brookline, MA) - City Year Co-Founder and Democratic Candidate for Congress in the Fourth District, Alan Khazei, released his comprehensive plan to Fix our Democracy today, calling for fundamental voting and electoral reform that puts people before politics to make our system truly of, by, and for the people. As one of the first Congressional candidates in the country ever to refuse all money from corporate PACs and lobbyists, Khazei has identified democracy reform as a centerpiece of his agenda for Congress.

“People all across the 4th district of Massachusetts and our country are undergoing an extraordinary awakening demanding that we confront the stark injustices made clear by the Coronavirus and history of systemic racism,” said Khazei. “We The People need to stand up to the special interests that dominate Washington. We need to take back our democracy by ensuring voting rights, ending the corruption in Washington, and enacting dramatic political reform. If I have the privilege of serving in Congress, I don’t want to go to Congress alone. I want to bring the people with me and use their spirit, commitment and energy to bust open the doors of Congress, break the logjam and bring about transformational change. We will put people before politics and restore government Of, By and For the people.”

The plan, which addresses systemic issues of money in politics and voting access challenges including vote-by-mail, calls for specific and comprehensive changes to the current system. First, Khazei has put his strong support behind H.R 1, the For the People Act, which enables public financing of campaigns, guarantees automatic voter registration and the expansion of early voting, prohibits partisan gerrymandering, strengthens ethics rules, and requires financial transparency from Presidential candidates, among other changes.

“Alan is a national movement leader who has fought to protect and empower the voices of all people. Nowhere is this work more critical than in fixing our democracy,” said Lawrence Lessig, tenured Harvard professor and democracy reform champion. “Alan was among the first Congressional candidates in the country more than 10 years ago to refuse all money from corporate PACs and lobbyists, and is doing the same now. Alan’s leadership will deliver real change to help end the corruption in Washington and restore the voice of the people.”

To deliver electoral reform, Khazei is proposing a 21st Century Voting Rights Act, along with eliminating the electoral college and outlawing voter suppression. On voter registration, Khazei argued “there is no reason why every citizen should not be registered to vote in 21st century America. Laws that deliberately seek to suppress voting have no place in our democracy, and, to ensure everyone has the opportunity to vote, election day should be moved to the weekend.”

Khazei also strongly supports vote-by-mail and early voting, calling for its expansion and a boost to digital voting. “This country has seen first-hand during the COVID-19 pandemic that we need vote by mail so that millions of voters are not forced to make a choice between their health and their right to vote. We must give everyone the chance to vote safely, and at their convenience,” said Khazei.

In addition to supporting public financing of campaigns, Khazei also calls for another innovative reform: putting 18-year term limits on the Supreme Court. “When our Constitution was first created, the average American lifespan was 35 to 40. My children’s generation will live to be over 100. Without term limits, we could have judges on the court that serve for sixty years, defining multiple generations of legal doctrine, that does not align with a true 21st Century democracy.” Khazei said.

Tapping his leadership in the service movement, Khazei will introduce legislation for Universal Voluntary National Service “as a way to unleash the energy and idealism of young people to tackle pressing societal challenges, restore our sense of common purpose and show that we have more that unites us than divides us.”

Khazei will also champion an American Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission funded with $50 million by Congress to take the extraordinary protest energy demanding racial justice from our street corners and neighborhoods, into a national institutional process to ensure we achieve transformational legal, policy and cultural change.

The full plan can be found at www.alankhazei.com/democracy.

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Alan Khazei, City Year co-founder and service movement leader, is running for Congress in MA-04. He lives in Brookline with his wife, daughter, son, and dog Zuzu. Leading on the COVID-19 crisis, Khazei co-authored an Op-Ed in the Boston Globe on creating 500,000 service year jobs to tackle COVID-19, two Politico Op-Eds on saving small businesses, issued a comprehensive COVID-19 Action Plan and published a three-part path forward on Medium. He also launched a comprehensive policy vision on climate action and on transportation, found on his website. His most recent Op-Ed is co-authored with former NAACP President, Professor Cornell William Brooks, and talks about his plan for an American Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commision. Khazei has been endorsed by State Senator Marc Pacheco, Massachusetts State Representatives Jeff Roy and Smitty Pignatelli, Newton City Councillor and LGBTQ+ activist Holly Ryan, former National Security Advisor and UN Ambassador Susan Rice, Four-Star General Stanley McChrystal, Congressperson Jamie Raskin, former Mayor of New Orleans Mitch Landrieu, former Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy, former U.S. Senator Gary Hart, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Douglas Wilson, Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Saya Ameli Hajebi, National Spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, lifelong Civil Rights activist Hubie Jones, prominent civic entrepreneur Colette Phillips and the Leadership Now Project. Khazei also has been named a Gun Sense Candidate by Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety.
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www.alankhazei.com