Associated Press Tag

After an hour-long, private meeting with recalcitrant Democratic Senators, President Biden told members of the press that he remains unsure whether voting rights reform bills can be passed this session. “The honest to God answer is I don’t know whether we can get this done,” Biden admitted. The statement, dispiriting to advocates of voting rights after almost a year of new, restrictive voting laws passing through state houses across the nation, came after freshman Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) gave a speech on the Senate

Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has signed a new elections law after a prolonged battle with Democrats in the state legislature. The bill was signed in Tyler, a city in East Texas, which is part of the district represented by Texas Senator Brian Hughes, who is credited as the main author of the bill. At least three lawsuits have already been filed against the state for what many view as its excessively restrictive policies regarding voting access. Visit the Associated Press to learn more. Image Credit:

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.

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

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