Texas law enforcement enlisted to end Democrats’ holdout
The Texas State Senate has approved a new Republican-backed voting law after a fifteen-hour filibuster from State Rep. Carol Alvorado (D-TX District 6) failed to halt its passage. Meanwhile, state law enforcement has been enlisted to call for the return of dozens of Democratic members of the Texas House, who have travelled to D.C. to protest a vote on Republican-backed voting policies in their chamber. The use of law enforcement marks a dramatic ramp up of tactics in the ongoing face-off between the state’s
Civil rights leaders plan a day of voting rights marches
Civil and voting rights activists are planning a day of marches across the United States on August 28th, in order to pressure Congress to act on what they say are urgently needed voting law reforms. The effort is being led by Martin Luther King III, Alejandro Chavez (grandson of labor and civil rights activist Caesar Chavez), and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Major marches are scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, and Phoenix, along with a march in Washington, D.C.Visit Axios to learn
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