Progressives push Senate Democrats to nix filibuster ahead of voting rights fight
Now that Senate Democrats have missed their self-drawn August deadline for advancing voting rights reform, a coalition of more than 100 progressive groups are redoubling a campaign to pressure the party to eliminate the filibuster when the legislative body returns to work in September. “Fix Our Senate” leads the advocacy groups for lowering the requirement to end debate in the Senate from 60 votes to 51. They argue that, if this is not done, Democrats will miss their chance to protect voting rights in
Democrats unveil plan to update landmark voting law
US Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL-07) has officially introduced a bill designed to restore the Department of Justice’s authority to inspect and then approve or reject changes to elections laws from states who are determined to have a history of voter discrimination. The so-called John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would update the legal formula used to determine if a state had a recent history of voter discrimination. An earlier formula employed by the Department of Justice was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Arizona County seeks reimbursement for new voting machines
Maricopa County’s Board of Election Supervisors is calling for the Arizona Senate to reimburse it for the $2.8 million cost of replacing vote-counting machines. Seeking to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, Republicans in the Arizona Senate had arranged for the machines to be inspected by an organization that was not certified to handle the election equipment. In response to the demands from Maricopa County, the Arizona Senate President has argued that the machines were not damaged or tampered with
Texas Democrats return, end 38-day holdout over voting bill
Enough Texas Democrats have returned from Washington, D.C. to the Texas State House to end the party’s 38-day stand against Republican-sponsored election reforms. The bill that Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives had hoped to defeat has already passed the Texas State Senate and will likely be signed by Governor Greg Abbott in the coming weeks. Some frustration and disagreement between the state’s Democrats has been expressed to the press since enough members of the party have relented to allow for the bill
John Roberts and the Supreme Court might block anything Democrats do on voting rights
Legal experts continue to express skepticism that a Congressional restoration of the federal government’s authority to approve or reject state voting laws - also known as “preclearance” - will survive a review by the current US Supreme Court. While conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has expressed a willingness to restore preclearance powers to the federal government through Congressional legislation, experts think it is very possible that the new formula being devised by the Democrats for determining when a state has created