A key Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, says he will not vote for the largest overhaul of U.S. election law in at least a generation. Bracing for political trouble, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Democrats that they will soon face a wrenching test.
As time ticks away, Democrats don’t have any more time to mull things over as a key Democratic senator says he will not vote for the largest overhaul of U.S. election law. Faced with a wrenching test on the agenda, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Democratic colleagues that June will test their resolve.
Joe Manchin, meanwhile, insists senators must come together on a voting rights bill in a bipartisan way, or it will all but divide the Senate.
Manchin: The bottom line is the fundamental purpose of our democracy, is the freedom of our elections. If we can’t come to agreement on that, God help us. We must come together on a voting rights bill in a bipartisan way.
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The voting rights bill would restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, strike down hurdles to voting and bring transparency to a murky campaign finance system. The bill would also require states to offer 15 days of early voting and allow no-excuse absentee balloting.
The legislation acts as the antidote to a wave of restrictive state voting laws in the country, many of which were inspired by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud in his 2020 U.S. Presidential Election loss.
A vote will take place in Senate in the latter part of this month.
But although the bill is going to bring the largest overhaul of U.S. election law in a generation, without Manchin’s support, the bill has no chance of advancing, because Republicans are dead set against the bill.
Be that as it may, Biden believes the right to vote is precious and must be protected. He considers Vice President Kamala Harris a “vital partner”, as Harris was tapped to push forward voting rights laws.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki:
The President sees the Vice President as an important partner, and somebody who can work to take on challenging and hard initiatives. That’s the role of the modern day Vice President. And she actually asked to run point and lead on voting rights. It’s an issue that she is personally committed to and passionate about.
He believes that the Texas legislation is a part of a concerted attack on our democracy being advanced, as we have seen, not just in Texas, as you well know, but in states across the country, on the basis of the same repeatedly disproven lies that led to the assault on our nation's Capitol on January 6. So that is, of course, of great concern to the president. He thinks that must stop. It must be easier, not harder for all eligible voters to vote, to register and cast their ballots. We need to move forward and not backward.
And the fact that the Texas legislation would make it harder to vote in a state where it is already too hard for many people to vote. But it's not the only state where we're seeing this troubling trend. But this is one of the reasons why he asked his Vice-- or she asked for it, but he certainly was thrilled to have her leading the effort on voting rights moving forward, given this is a huge priority to him, and a huge priority to her as well.
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