Biden Says He Will Ramp Up Push To Expand Voting Rights, And Puts Harris In Charge
During his speech to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, President Joe Biden announced that he has selected Vice President Kamala Harris to lead White House efforts to defend voting rights. According to the President, the voting rights of Americans are under an “unprecedented assault” by Republican state legislatures. The White House Press Secretary says that Vice President Harris, herself, asked President Biden for the assignment.Visit NPR to learn more.Image Credit: Joe Biden photo by Adam Schultz / Biden for President
Supreme Court ruling in Arizona case will be another front in the voting rights wars
The Supreme Court will soon hear a case to decide whether two Arizona voting regulations violate the Voting Rights Act. This will be the first time that the Supreme Court has weighed in on the scope of the Voting Rights Act since 2013, when it struck a section of the landmark voting rights bill in a case known as Shelby County v. Holder. Voting rights advocates are worried that the Supreme Court will once again reduce the scope of the Voting Rights Act’s powers.Visit CNN
Corporations Are Still Funding the GOP Campaign to Roll Back Voting Rights
Jacobin reports that major corporations, including ones who publicly promised to defend voting rights, have nonetheless continued their financial contributions to two major Republican groups who have been actively involved in efforts to restrict voting access as well as to reverse the 2020 election. These groups are the Republican Attorney General’s Association and the Republican State Leadership Committee. While many corporations announced they would no longer contribute to PACs for lawmakers who tried to overturn President Biden’s victory, they nonetheless donated to these organizations,
Democratic state legislators form voting rights council amid GOP push for restrictions
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is assembling Democratic state legislators across the country in order to form a “voting rights council.” The intention of the council is to build strategies against a wave of Republican-backed bills that could reduce voter access and turnout. DLCC President Jessica Post says that “Republicans’ embrace of voter suppression is an existential threat to the future of our democracy.” The co-chairs of the new voting rights council will be Michigan Senate Democratic Leader Jim Ananich and Nevada Assembly
Minnesota Appeals court deals setback to voting restoration push
Minnesota’s Court of Appeals has upheld a law which prohibits citizens convicted of felonies from voting until they have fully completed their sentences, including probation. Those who brought the case in order to expand felon voting rights will seek to get the decision overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court. An attorney pursuing the case for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota says, “Felony disenfranchisement is one of the enduring and systematic racial disparities in our criminal justice system.”Visit the Brainerd Dispatch to learn more.Image Credit: