The House of Representatives passed a landmark bill on voting rights , elections, campaign finance and ethics reform by a vote of 220-210 on Wednesday.

The For the People Act, congressional Democrats top legislative priority, passed with 220 Democrats in support and one Democrat (Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi) and 209 Republicans in opposition. (Two Republicans did not vote.) This encapsulates a major contrast between the nations two major political parties: One is pushing to expand access to the ballot, the other is trying to restrict it.

The Republican Party is still led by former President Donald Trump , who just two months ago sought to overturn a free and fair election by invalidating votes in majority-Black cities. More than half of the House Republican caucus backed him. This led directly to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol . And now Republicans at the state level are pushing a new wave of voting rights restrictions based on Trumps election fraud lies, including in Georgia, where Republicans just lost the presidential race and two Senate seats.

Democrats see the march of these voter restrictions as both a direct attack on the principle of voting rights and the prospect of a pluralistic multiracial democracy and a direct threat to their own partys ability to win majorities. Theyre backing the most expansive voting rights legislation in generations in order to stop that attack.

This is existential, said Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), the freshman representative to House Democratic Party leadership. Our democracy is under assault. And if we dont pass this legislation now, my prediction is we will not have a democracy over the next decade.

If enacted into law, the For The People Act would nullify this latest GOP wave of voter restrictions at the state level. To do so, the bill mandates that states provide no-excuse absentee voting, at least 15 days of early voting and provisional ballots; requires states to automatically register voters when they interact with a state or local government agency (unless they choose to opt out), while also providing the option of online and same-day registration; limits states from implementing mass voter roll purges and voter identification laws; and restores voting rights to people convicted of felonies upon release from prison in states that ban them from voting. These are just a few of the major provisions in the bill.

At a time when Americans from across the political spectrum are demanding real change and accountability from their elected officials, its more important than ever before to deliver on the promise of H.R. 1 and restore faith in our democracy, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), the lead sponsor of the House bill, said in a statement. We have no time to waste.