House Democrats push to introduce John Lewis voting rights bill within weeks
Speaking on the 56th anniversary of the signing of the original Voting Rights Act, House Representative G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) announced plans to introduce a revised version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. “Hopefully we can get it introduced during a pro forma session during the month of August,” Butterfield said. But, failing that, Butterfield claimed he could “anticipate reasonably that we may be able to vote on this during the week of September 2.” “But,” the Congressman added, “that is not my
Garland urges Congress to protect voting rights
In a recently published op-ed in the Washington Post, current US Attorney General Merrick Garland has called on Congress to advance voting rights legislation. Many legal tools to enforce federal voting laws and protect against voter suppression were stripped from the Department of Justice, which Garland heads, following a 2013 Supreme Court decision known as Shelby County v. Holder. Under the current legal conditions, Garland has asserted that “the Justice Department has been left with costly, time-consuming tools that have many of the shortcomings
Biden slams attempts to curb voting rights but says he isn’t ready to call for an end of the filibuster
While President Biden likened efforts by Republican state lawmakers across the country to restrict voting access to “Jim Crow on steroids,” he rebuffed calls from his fellow Democrats to reform or eliminate the filibuster in order to pass a federal voting rights bill. “What I want to do is I'm trying to bring the country together, and I don't want the debate to only be about whether or not we have a filibuster or exceptions to the filibuster or going back to the way
Texas Democrat leaves DC, returns to Austin for ‘good faith dialogue’ on voting bill
Having joined roughly 60 fellow Texas Democrats who travelled to Washington, D.C. in protest of Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s call to consider new voting policies, State Rep. Phillip Cortez has returned to Austin, TX. While Cortez continues to support his fellow lawmakers who remain in D.C., he says he has decided to work with a small group of Democrats in Texas who have opened discussion with state Republicans over a newly introduced voting bill. Gov. Abbot, who had threatened to arrest truant Democrats upon
Pennsylvania decertifies county’s voting system after audit
Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid has decertified Fulton County’s voting systems after the thinly populated county submitted to an “audit” from an organization whom Degraffenreid holds was not authorized to examine the voting machines. Fulton County will now almost certainly have to purchase or rent new voting machines for the next election. While Fulton County acceded to pressure from GOP state lawmakers to submit to a “forensic investigation” of their machines, other Pennsylvania counties have refused. Visit Associated Press to learn more. Jimmy Emerson, DVM