Posted on 02/25/2023 7:10:18 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers in several Democratic-controlled states are advocating sweeping voter protections this year, reacting to what they view as a broad undermining of voting rights by the Supreme Court and Republican-led states as well as a failed effort in Congress to bolster access to the polls.
Legislators in Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and New Mexico have introduced voting rights measures, while Michigan’s secretary of state is preparing a plan.
Among other things, the proposals would require state approval for local governments to change redistricting or voting procedures, ban voter suppression and intimidation, mandate that ballots are printed in more languages, increase protections for voters with disabilities, ensure the right to vote for those with previous felony convictions and instruct judges to prioritize voter access when hearing election-related challenges.
If the legislation is enacted, the states would join California, New York, Oregon, Washington and Virginia in having comprehensive voting rights laws.
“It’s up to states now to ensure that the right to vote is protected,” said Janai Nelson, president of the the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Passing state voting rights legislation is only half the battle, said state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, a Virginia Democrat who introduced a state voting rights act that passed in 2021 when Democrats controlled both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office.
McClellan noted that ensuring voting rights historically was a bipartisan issue, but said Republicans are now focused on “fighting phantom voter fraud” — making this year’s Virginia legislative elections all the more important.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
At some point voting is going to have to fall under intrastate commerce and become standardized. The broad spectrum of different state’s rules on voting are becoming more and more varied to the point of disenfranchising one state’s voters and changing the needs of the overall country.
If it is just their state, then it isn’t quite as important to consider the next state. But more and more the changes in state voting qualification are becoming a political process for agenda and not for the opportunity to be a part of the deciding factor in an honest manner. At some point, an amendment will have to be put into the Constitution to gain back the intent of the process.
wy69
I’m sure Rona will get right on it.
I think Twain is credited with “If voting was so important, they wouldn’t let us do it.”
Yeah, complete confidence in her here. /s
For some reason, we have no interest in that. But, we better get on the ball and do it. The other thing is we have to make sure that conservatives turn out. So many sat out the Georgia special election both cycles because they didn’t have their perfect candidate. Sometimes the party is so stupid.
“...they wouldn’t let us do it.”
They need to have a vote so they can screw up and blame the voters and not themselves. Loop hole but only on paper as no one can, without a doubt, say who won any election or ran legally over the last couple of centuries. Hard to put worms back in the can.
wy69
If Republicans copy Democrat procedures they will be arrested and prosecuted while Democrats so involved will be ignored or encouraged.
As in bolster protection for VOTE FRAUD…
Or not counting votes as the case may be.
They don’t need to turn out. The game the GOP and campaigns have to play is tracking, hunting down conservative voters and stupid voters that don’t know any better and physically getting their votes, or escorting them to a drop box with their votes. It’s even better if you register new voters and that begins the tracking process. The battle is beating Democrats to the stupid voters. Then we need to be in place to count those votes. It’s not about turnout.
If they were honest, they would be doing investigative pieces exposing the political machine's dirty tricks in protecting the incumbents. Now you only read about this stuff on New York Post, Breitbart and maybe Daily Mail. That's not enough.
Well Trump said the GOP should also ballet harvest and it scares the democrats ,LOL
I think they mean protecting voter fraud.
True.
Black voter: Allowing us black folks to only vote one time each is downright racist. We should vote more times with no ID to make up for past wrongs, like with the OJ not guilty verdict.
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