For decades, it had required certain states and jurisdictions with large minority populations and a history of discrimination to get federal approval for any changes to voting procedures.īut Republicans say that Trump's repeated attacks on the 2020 election have electrified his supporters, even as courts and his last attorney general, William Barr, found them without merit. Previous debates over voting rights have often been esoteric and complex, with much of the debate in Congress focused on whether to restore a “preclearance” process in the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court invalidated in 2013.
The Democratic bill would instead require that the boundaries be drawn by independent commissions. With Republicans controlling the majority of statehouses the process alone could help the GOP win enough seats to recapture the House. is also on the cusp of a once-in-a-decade redrawing of congressional districts, a highly partisan affair that is typically controlled by state legislatures. Democrats argue this would disproportionately hit low-income voters, or those of color, who are critical constituencies for their party. Future presidents would be obligated to disclose their tax returns, which former President Donald Trump refused to do.ĭebate over the bill comes at a critical moment, particularly for Democrats.Īcting on Trump's repeated false claims of a stolen election, dozens of Republican-controlled state legislatures are pushing bills that would make it more difficult to vote. It would also require so-called dark money political groups to disclose anonymous donors, create reporting requirements for online political ads and appropriate nearly $2 billion for election infrastructure upgrades.
#Where are revisions to bills made registration
The bill would mandate early voting, same-day registration and other long-sought changes that Republicans reject. “What’s worse, it does this even though states have been traditionally allowed to generally run elections however they see fit.”Ĭiting Congress’ constitutional authority over federal elections, Democrats say national rules are needed to make voting more uniform, accessible and fair. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Monday during a hearing on the bill.
“It imposes from Washington, D.C., a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme on each state,” Rep. Yet to many Republicans, it amounts to an unwarranted federal intrusion into a process that states should control. John Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat who sponsored the bill, said that outside of Congress “these aren't controversial reforms.” Much of it, he noted, was derived from the recommendations of bipartisan commissions. And everyone knows it.”īarriers to voting are as old as the country, but in more recent history they have come in the form of voter ID laws and other restrictions that are up for debate in statehouses across the country.
The vote is at the heart of our democratic system of government,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of the nonpartisan good government organization Democracy 21.
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