Posted on 12/14/2021 2:33:00 PM PST by Jacquerie
WASHINGTON — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and 16 other Democratic governors are urging the U.S. Senate to pass two bills that aim to protect voting rights.
Both measures need 60 votes to advance under Senate rules but have been stalled by Republican opposition in the evenly divided Senate.
“Without decisive action by the federal government this year to protect voters’ access to the ballot and ensure the integrity and transparency of our elections, the voices of Americans across the country, especially Americans of color, will be suppressed,” the governors wrote in a Monday letter to U.S. Senate leadership.
Governors who signed the letter include Jared Polis of Colorado, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Steve Sisolak of Nevada, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Kate Brown of Oregon, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania and Tony Evers of Wisconsin, among others.
One bill, known as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, would restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and require states and localities with a systemic history of crafting discriminatory voting laws to get special pre-clearance by the Justice Department before enacting those laws.
The second bill, known as the Freedom to Vote Act, was introduced in the Senate, and it would prevent gerrymandering, protect poll workers and require all states to offer at least two weeks of early voting, as well as establish a national voting day, among other provisions.
Senate Republicans have repeatedly blocked any voting rights legislation from being debated.
The push for Congress to pass voting rights protection comes as legislators in 48 states have either passed or introduced legislation that would limit voting hours, restrict mail-in voting or reduce polling locations.
(Excerpt) Read more at floridaphoenix.com ...
How many Republicans will cave (again)?
So far, no pubbie co-sponsors.
But . . . some thirty years ago the GOP so much as committed seppuku when they put Motor Voter over the top.
The GOP never fails to disappoint.
It would require 10.
Letting everyone in the world vote in US elections turns it into that place
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