Democrats in the Senate have been pushing to change Senate rules in order to pass a controversial bill that would add some federal regulations to how states run their elections.
The bill will expand voting access by eliminating voter ID laws, widening the scope of mail-in and absentee voting, and would require states to allow for same-day voter registration.
All of this has been a platform of the bill that Democrats say expands the right to vote in the U.S.
“I support changing the Senate rules, whichever way they need to be changed, to prevent a minority of senators from blocking actions on voting rights,” President Biden said in a speech in Atlanta. “Let the majority prevail! If that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option then to change Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this.”
The filibuster is the Senate’s 60 vote threshold that legislation of a non-budgetary matter must pass through in order to advance out of debate before a final vote is taken.
The Senate is split 50-50 at the moment, meaning Democrats need some Republican help in passing the bill under the current rules.
Every Republican has come out against the bill.
The same afternoon as the president’s address in Georgia, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) railed against the president’s line of thinking. In a speech on the Senate floor, young said the filibuster is a vital part of the democratic process.
“Abandoning the 60 vote threshold in order to seize control of America’s election is not only short-sighted, it’s clueless,” Young said. “(Democrats’) proposal to federalize and politicize America’s elections has been a tough sell. The so-called legislative filibuster is not a threat to our democracy. Ending it is.”
Young reminded Democrats that the federal government is not and never has been a “direct democracy”, but a “republican democracy” with emphasis on the small “r”.
“It forces majorities to find ways to compromise,” he added. “It incentivizes bipartisan collaboration among senators representing diverse parts of our nation.”
Young said having to re-write rules when things don’t go the way of the majority means that lawmakers are failing at their jobs.
3 comments
This bill breaks all bargains. The founders firmly put elections in the hands of the States. There should be no tinkering, well really wholesale destruction, of this vital check and balance of the powers that be. Urge all legislators to vote NO on this dastardly bill. The irony is that when states pass Voter ID laws MORE minorities vote, not less as is claimed by the tyrants who want full control. Then they name the bill after a dead black congressman and call those opposed to the bill RACISTS. Something is very rotten in this country when an open debate cannot be had. The filibuster in the US Senate is designed to ensure that as full majority of the States support any particular piece of legislation. It is hard to believe ANY state’s senators would support taking control of elections away form the state legislatures.
Those Senators no longer represent the will of the States, thanks to the colossal mistake that is the 17th Amendment. That amendment is quite literally the root of all the issues we currently experience.
The Democrats call this a “Voter Rights” bill. We all know that it is actually an “Election Theft” bill, letting the Democrats steal elections with impunity forever more.
I’m fairly certain that without massive election fraud, Democrats cannot win even with their Pravda media cheerleaders.