WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Thursday unveiled new efforts to help protect voting rights as complaints from civil rights activists and other Democrats grew louder that white House It hasn’t done enough to fight off attempts by many Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot.
President Joe Biden met with civil rights leaders in the West Wing while the Vice President Kamala Harris Announced $25 million in new spending by the Democratic National Committee to support efforts to secure voting access ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Biden and his team have repeatedly promised to make a big push on voting rights managing committee Republicans blocked a sweeping election reform bill last month. The president told reporters last week that he planned to “speak broadly” on voting rights and that he would “get down the road on this issue.”
So far, there hasn’t been a big speech and a yatra, adding to the dismay of those in his own party who watch it. GOP Action on voting rights as a potential threat to the very existence of both Democrats and democracy.
That pressure is only a . increased after Supreme court The decision limited the ability of minorities to challenge state laws, which Democrats say are discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. Biden has brought outside advocates to meetings at the White House and consulted with advisers on the best strategy to counter the restrictive new laws.
Thursday’s speech by Harris, tasked with leading the administration’s response to voting rights challenges, was expected to be the first in a series of events on his part on the issue, and likely as early as next week, according to aides two. was apparently discussing a Biden speech. White House officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.
“This campaign is based on the conviction that everyone’s vote matters — that your vote matters,” Harris said. “We want to help make sure your vote counts, and that’s because our democracy is strongest when everyone participates.”
Several states have implemented voting restrictions, and others are debating them, as Republicans decry former President Donald Trump’s false claim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election to pass new legislation to reduce ballot access. Confiscated as pretending to do so.
Democrats are terrified that the new law could suppress voting for next year’s midterm elections, when the party is trying to capture a narrow margin in both houses of Congress.
“Guys, it’s never too early to defend your rights,” Harris said. “With these new laws that have been passed, or they are trying to, we have to start now to finish strong.”
But some Democrats and voting rights activists believe the White House didn’t start nearly too soon. Many on the left have been dismayed, including Representative Jamal Bowman, D.N.Y., who declared in a recent interview that “the president needs to move on and be very vocal on this issue.”
Democrats on Capitol Hill have already tried to respond with a broad voting and election bill that Senate Republicans have united to block. Most Republicans have similarly rejected a separate bill, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, that would reinstate sections of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court had previously weakened.
Those roadblocks have focused on the Senate filibuster, which, if left in place, appears to provide insurmountable opposition to the pair of sweeping Voting Rights Reform Acts currently in Congress. Republicans have been unanimous in their opposition, and would have to abolish or at least amend the filibuster to give the bills a chance to pass. Liberal Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kirsten Cinema of Arizona have so far expressed reluctance to change Senate tradition.
While not giving up hope of a legislative solution, the West Wing is focusing on other measures to protect the vote, including legal measures adopted by the Justice Department and individual states, according to officials. There will also be an emphasis on boosting voter turnout, pointing to the successes Democrats had in securing votes during the height of the pandemic last year.
This week White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden believes “voting is a fundamental right of the American people.” “He’s going to use every lever at his disposal to advocate for it.”
However, officials acknowledge that it is always harder to single out voters in a non-presidential election year. Some frustrated allies, seeing the reality in the Senate, believe that federal legislative measures have received too much attention and think that citizens and business groups can also play a role in fighting voting restrictions, noting that Georgia has a The outcry helped water down some of the GOP’s proposed plans.
Last week the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision upheld voting limits in Arizona that a lower court had found discriminatory under the federal Voting Rights Act. It was the second major decision of the High Court in eight years that civil rights groups and moderate dissenting judges say undermined a civil rights-era law that aimed to eliminate discrimination in voting.
Despite the lack of evidence of fraud, many Republicans are questioning the outcome of the 2020 election. Republican elected officials in several states have responded by banning early voting and mail-in ballots, as well as enacting tougher voter identification laws, prompting some liberals to demand that Biden do more.
“We’ve gotten past the point where we’ve lost faith that he’s going to do it on his own,” said Cliff Albright, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. “Where’s your voting rights tour? People have already started calling it quits. It’s just going to go on.”
President Joe Biden met with civil rights leaders in the West Wing while the Vice President Kamala Harris Announced $25 million in new spending by the Democratic National Committee to support efforts to secure voting access ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Biden and his team have repeatedly promised to make a big push on voting rights managing committee Republicans blocked a sweeping election reform bill last month. The president told reporters last week that he planned to “speak broadly” on voting rights and that he would “get down the road on this issue.”
So far, there hasn’t been a big speech and a yatra, adding to the dismay of those in his own party who watch it. GOP Action on voting rights as a potential threat to the very existence of both Democrats and democracy.
That pressure is only a . increased after Supreme court The decision limited the ability of minorities to challenge state laws, which Democrats say are discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. Biden has brought outside advocates to meetings at the White House and consulted with advisers on the best strategy to counter the restrictive new laws.
Thursday’s speech by Harris, tasked with leading the administration’s response to voting rights challenges, was expected to be the first in a series of events on his part on the issue, and likely as early as next week, according to aides two. was apparently discussing a Biden speech. White House officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.
“This campaign is based on the conviction that everyone’s vote matters — that your vote matters,” Harris said. “We want to help make sure your vote counts, and that’s because our democracy is strongest when everyone participates.”
Several states have implemented voting restrictions, and others are debating them, as Republicans decry former President Donald Trump’s false claim of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election to pass new legislation to reduce ballot access. Confiscated as pretending to do so.
Democrats are terrified that the new law could suppress voting for next year’s midterm elections, when the party is trying to capture a narrow margin in both houses of Congress.
“Guys, it’s never too early to defend your rights,” Harris said. “With these new laws that have been passed, or they are trying to, we have to start now to finish strong.”
But some Democrats and voting rights activists believe the White House didn’t start nearly too soon. Many on the left have been dismayed, including Representative Jamal Bowman, D.N.Y., who declared in a recent interview that “the president needs to move on and be very vocal on this issue.”
Democrats on Capitol Hill have already tried to respond with a broad voting and election bill that Senate Republicans have united to block. Most Republicans have similarly rejected a separate bill, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, that would reinstate sections of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court had previously weakened.
Those roadblocks have focused on the Senate filibuster, which, if left in place, appears to provide insurmountable opposition to the pair of sweeping Voting Rights Reform Acts currently in Congress. Republicans have been unanimous in their opposition, and would have to abolish or at least amend the filibuster to give the bills a chance to pass. Liberal Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kirsten Cinema of Arizona have so far expressed reluctance to change Senate tradition.
While not giving up hope of a legislative solution, the West Wing is focusing on other measures to protect the vote, including legal measures adopted by the Justice Department and individual states, according to officials. There will also be an emphasis on boosting voter turnout, pointing to the successes Democrats had in securing votes during the height of the pandemic last year.
This week White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden believes “voting is a fundamental right of the American people.” “He’s going to use every lever at his disposal to advocate for it.”
However, officials acknowledge that it is always harder to single out voters in a non-presidential election year. Some frustrated allies, seeing the reality in the Senate, believe that federal legislative measures have received too much attention and think that citizens and business groups can also play a role in fighting voting restrictions, noting that Georgia has a The outcry helped water down some of the GOP’s proposed plans.
Last week the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision upheld voting limits in Arizona that a lower court had found discriminatory under the federal Voting Rights Act. It was the second major decision of the High Court in eight years that civil rights groups and moderate dissenting judges say undermined a civil rights-era law that aimed to eliminate discrimination in voting.
Despite the lack of evidence of fraud, many Republicans are questioning the outcome of the 2020 election. Republican elected officials in several states have responded by banning early voting and mail-in ballots, as well as enacting tougher voter identification laws, prompting some liberals to demand that Biden do more.
“We’ve gotten past the point where we’ve lost faith that he’s going to do it on his own,” said Cliff Albright, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. “Where’s your voting rights tour? People have already started calling it quits. It’s just going to go on.”
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