Top GOP officials have been working across several states, most prominently Texas, to pass controversial new restrictions on how Americans vote in future elections.
Proposals include the banning drive-thru polling stations, limiting mail-in ballots and restricting who can hand in ballot papers on behalf of others.
Several Democrats are calling to end or tweak the filibuster in order for Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation like the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a press briefing Wednesday said the filibuster is a “legislative procedural process” and that it is “up to the Senate to determine the path forward on.”
Even if the filibuster remains, Psaki said Biden is confident he will “use ever lever” to advocate for voting rights.
“We don’t accept there isn’t a path forward,” she said.
Other Republicans are debating them as the GOP continues to seize on former President Donald Trump’s false claim of massive voter fraud in November as a justification for major changes to voting laws.
“In America, if you lose, you accept the results,” Biden said at National Constitution Center. “You follow the Constitution, you try again. You don’t call facts ‘fake’ and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you’re unhappy. That’s not statesmanship. That’s selfishness.”
His remarks came after Texas Democrats fled for Washington D.C. in an attempt to delay a vote on a Republican-led bill that would restrict voting bills in their state.
Psaki said that Biden applauds their “bold actions” in opposition to state laws that impose “restrictions on people’s fundamental rights.”
“You represent the experience, the life and the voice of so many Americans whose voices and whose perspcetive must be represented in all these rooms at all of these tables,” Harris said before the discussion began.
“Because if we are truly and democracy it means we have a representative government that reflects the experience and the life of all the people in our country and I think we have a lot more work to do in this regard as it related to our fellow Americans with disabilities.”
“Hot Call Summer 2.0” is getting the word out about the “For the People Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act” and is pushing for other progressive provisions to be included in the legislation.
Such provisions include expanding mail-in voting, reducing long lines at poling centers, ending threats towards polling workers and voter intimidation, ensuring fair districts are drawn and ending partisan gerrymandering.
“Fair Fight Action is turning the heat up on Congress all summer long to ensure they take immediate action to establish minimum national voting standards and restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act,” Hillary Holley, the Director of Organizing for Fair Fight Action told CBS News. “With the recent Supreme Court decision on Brnovich v. DNC further weakening the Voting Rights Act, the urgent need for federal action to protect the freedom to vote is greater than ever.”
“The president’s view is that these Texas legislators were making a statement through action in opposition to efforts in their state to oppose restrictions on people’s fundamental rights…to vote in their state,” she told reporters.
She said leaders need “bold action and bold voices” to speak out against the 28 states with laws in place or in process to make it harder to vote.
“The president applauds their actions and their outspoken opposition to efforts to put in place restrictive measures in the state,” she said.
She added that Biden encourages the lawmakers to “work together [with Republicans] in areas where you can find agreement” moving forward and that they should continue to “be outspoken when you have concerns about affronts to democracy.”
“In terms of the filibuster, it a legislative procedural process that is up to the Senate to determine the path forward on,” Psaki told reporters. “There is not the majority to support that.”
While some Democrats have expressed their belief that ending or tweaking the filibuster is the only way to pass voting rights legislation, Psaki assured reporters that Biden is more optimistic.
“We don’t accept there isn’t a path forward,” she said.
She said that Biden will “use every lever to advocate” for voting rights and will continue to engage with leaders to pass legislation.
“What utter nonsense,” he said. “It would be laugh-out-loud funny if it weren’t so irresponsible.”
McConnell spoke to the Senate Wednesday, accusing Democrats of promoting “big lies and fake outrage” over Republican voting laws.
He accused Democrats of “lying to the American people about the health of our democracy” and defended GOP voting measures as “simple, fair and popular.”
“The longer these fake hysterics keep up, the more Americans will keep wondering why Democrats are this desperate to seize control over voting laws,” he said.
The companies, including Apple, PepsiCo, Google and Starbucks, have convened under the name Bussiness for Voting Rights to call upon Congress to create “federal protections to safeguard this fundamental right [of voting] for all Americans.”
Therefore, the letter asked Congress to reintroduce the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, an amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, in order to “prevent voting discrimination, as well as establish a more transparent and accountable system for states to report election law changes.”
“Legislation amending the Voting Rights Act must help ensure that voters of color who remain the targets of voter suppression have equal and unfettered access to the democratic process,” the letter said.
While each company is unique, the letter said, “we are united in the belief that every American deserves a voice in our democracy.”
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said that joining this coalition builds on the company’s efforts to support its employees and customers exercise their right to vote.
“We believe civic engagement is critical in building stronger communities and we will continue to provide tools and resources to help you use your voice to make a difference in your communities,” Johnson said in a statement to employees.
“The struggle for civil rights and racial equity in America exists in every aspect of our society, and the democratic process is no exception,” he continued. “We believe that voting should be free of discrimination of any kind.”
In addition to passing legislation, Harris told NPR that she is committed to “putting resources into the people on the ground and the work on the ground” to empower people to exercise their right to vote.
Harris said this type of work on the ground includes getting people registers, educating people about the threats to their voting rights and turning out voters.
Coalition-building and facilitating conversations between leaders and their constituents are also essential “to get an accurate sense of how people are experiencing this issue… and make sure that the realities of this issue are being heard and well understood,” Harris said.
She said she is meeting with folks in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Michigan, as well as a group of leaders among people with disabilities.
She added that she applauds the work of the Department of Justice to take up litigation against state laws that “are trying to make it more difficult for people to vote so that they won’t vote.”
“I think about it in the context of laws that are going to make it difficult for working people to vote. It’s just wrong,” she said. “And it’s not about partisanship. It really is about the rights that all people should be entitled to, regardless of their party affiliation.”
“We must end the filibuster,” California Representative Adam Shift tweeted. “There is simply no other way.”
South Carolina Representative James Clyburn has proposed a middle-ground plan to tweak how and when the filibuster is used.
“I used to want to get rid of the whole thing, but [Senator Joe Manchin] has convinced me there is a place for extended debate on legislative issues,” Clyburn told Rachel Maddow.
Clyburn is suggesting that Congress carves out an exception to the filibuster so that they can “treat constitutional issues the same way we treat budget issues.”
Congress moves the budget forward with a simple majority as not to threaten the credit of the United States, Clyburn explained. He believes voting rights and constitutional matters should also be discussed without the filibuster application.
“The filibuster I think has its place, but not when it comes to voting and other constitutional issues,” he said.
In an interview with NPR, Vice President Kamala Harris was asked if she agrees with Clyburn’s proposal.
Harris said this is a matter for both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work out.
“I believe that of all of the issues that the United States Congress can take up, the right to vote is the right that unlocks all the other rights,” she said. “Now, the members of the Senate are going to have to address this and we’re going to continue to work to find a path forward, no matter how difficult.”
The aim of the group is to deprive the Texas House of a quorum to hold a vote on the plans, which will ban drive-thru voting and impose strict measures on mail-in ballots. The group is set to meet President Biden and VP Kamala Harris this week, following the president’s passionate speech on the issue on Tuesday.
Has it happened before and does it work?
In 2003, Texas Democrats fled to New Mexico to prevent a vote on a controversial redistricting plan for the state but the proposals were passed when the legislators eventually returned to the building.
The hope for Democrats is that national legislation, currently being filibustered by Republicans in the Senate, will be passed to override much of the plans individual states have for voting laws.
He decried Republican attempts to change the voting system as “dark” and “sinister” but stopped short of addressing attempts by the GOP to derail national legislation to undo voter law changes passed by individual states.
Watch the key moments below.
“The Texas law also helps to prevent mail-in ballot fraud in Texas - that is an issue that both Republicans and Democrats agree on. It will uphold the integrity of our elections and ensure that Texans who do qualify to vote by mail will have the ability to do so.
“President Biden and the Democrats must stop the misinformation. Texas is very simply making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
In a video posted on Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s Twitter account he told viewers to “jump in there and fight back.”
Proposals include the banning of drive-thru in Texas, which Republican legislators claim has a “coercive effect” on voters. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) claims this style of voting “violates” the “sanctity of the ballot box”.
Others include the restriction of mail-in ballots - the cause of much of the controversy at last year’s Presidential Election result - which former President Donald Trump and his allies claim contributed to the alleged fraud.
It is not the first time Republicans have attempted to block certain types of voting. Days before the 2020 Presidential Election, activists in Texas failed in a court battle to discount drive-thru voting. But several states have since passed similar legislation in the months following the election, with 17 states enacting 28 new voting laws as of June 21.
Democrats have attempted to block the changes with little success in Republican-controlled states and continue to put pressure on Joe Biden to speak up.
State legislatures across the U.S. are battling over whether to restrict mail-in and drive-thru voting, with Republicans claiming the measures are needed to prevent alleged fraud following the 2020 elections.
But Biden yesterday said the proposals are “threatening the very foundation of our country” and lashed out at those co-opting the debunked arguments around voter fraud to push a “dark” and “sinister” agenda.
Follow the latest on the story with Newsweek throughout Wednesday…
