Congressional lawmakers from the Democratic Party on Tuesday reintroduced the Freedom to Vote Acta comprehensive voting rights bill that would set national voting standards, end partisan rigging of elections, address felony disenfranchisement, require disclosure of candidates’ top donors, and create protections for nonpartisan election officials.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tim Kaine, and Raphael Warnock, and Representatives John Sarbanes, Joe Morelle, and Terri Sewell ( D-Ala.) introduced the bicameral bill, which had been introduced before for the first time in 2021.
The bill should set national standards for early voting, mail-in ballots, and protecting poll workers and volunteers from harassment. It would provide funds for states to purchase up-to-date voting machines and to perform cyber security upgrades, among other initiatives.
?Democracy faces unprecedented threats that we have not seen in more than a century,? said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “MAGA Republicans demonstrate the need for this legislation time and time again.”
The bill would also require super political action committees to disclose their donors and address gerrymandering by setting criteria for nonpartisan congressional redistricting.
“This bill speaks to our nation’s ideals,” said Rep. Joe Morelle, D-New York, the ranking member of the House Administration Committee.
But with Republicans in control of the House and Democrats with a slim majority in the Senate, the bill is unlikely to become law.
Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, said she knows “we have an uphill fight.”
She said Democrats have worked to put voting rights on the national stage and that several state legislatures, including her home state of Minnesota, have used the congressional bill as a model for passing election laws.
House Republicans last week passed their own election reform bill out of committee, which is also unlikely to become law. The Republican package would make it harder for millions of Americans to vote by creating more barriers at the polls, including new obstacles to voter registration and voting by mail.
The Brennan Center applauded the initiative of congressional Democrats noting: “It is crucial that Congress act firmly to protect the freedom to vote and protect elections. The best solution remains for Congress to formulate basic national standards for voting and elections like those in the Freedom to Vote Act bill. (freedom to vote). This measure, along with the proposed John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act (John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act)They must continue to be national priorities.”
The Brennan Center conducted a study detailing 14 tactics used by voter deniers throughout the 2022 election cycle, the false claims of widespread voter fraud, and related conspiracy theories that continue to threaten the integrity of our elections.
The Freedom to Vote Act is popular. In one poll, 70% ?including 54% of Republicans? supported its passage, while in another poll, 63% of likely voters (including 42% of Republicans) supported passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act together .
Keep reading:
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– New figures show the record number of laws that restrict voting approved so far this year
– The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Alabama’s black voters with an unexpected decision
Source: La Opinion
