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Frustrated supporters often ask why Democrats aren’t doing more to fight back against Trump and fight for democracy.
An event on Tuesday demonstrated what Democrats are doing and why so many people don’t know about it.
Democrats held a press conference to announce the reintroduction of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Sen. Raphael Warnock was one of the senators who spoke at the event, and he said:
Here’s the thing, voting rights are preservative of all other rights. That’s right. Democracy is the very house in which we live it. It is the framework in which we get to fight.
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For the things that we care about. There’s so many places all around the world where you don’t get to fight, you don’t get to use your voice in the way that we have taken for granted. And these last seven months have reminded us that we ought not take any of it for granted. We are literally in a fight for the life of the republic.
We are in a fight to make sure that everybody has a voice and that we don’t give in to the authoritarian movement that is afoot right now in our country. So much is at stake, and right now, even as we stand here pushing this John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, lawmakers in Texas are being called back into a special session.
Think about that. In Texas, in the middle of July, they’re going back into session in order to redraw the maps in the middle of the decade. Not only are they saying the quiet part out loud, they are acting on it with a vengeance in real time. And so just think about that. The very folk who just took healthcare away from 16 million Americans.
The very people who just passed legislation that will cause just about everybody’s healthcare premiums to go up are now busy trying to make sure that those Americans do not have the ability to fire them. They’ve deprived people of a doctor and now they’re trying to doctor the voting maps.
That’s why we have to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act, and we need to do it now. And so instead of representing the people’s needs, they’re spending the next year and a half trying to redraw the lines, squeezing the people out of their democratic system so they no longer have a vote and a voice.
This is what you call turning democracy upside down. So, rather than the people choosing their representatives, politicians get to pick their own people.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores federal pre-clearance of changes to voting rights in states that have had violations in the past. The legislation also expands the ability of the courts to protect voting rights, and it importantly requires federal pre-clearance in states that have voting rights violations before a state can change its voter ID laws or redistricting.
The introduction of this legislation is a significant development, yet it received zero coverage in the mainstream media.
It is not going to pass this year, but with Democrats thinking that they have a good chance of taking back the House and Senate next year, they are lining up support and demonstrating their priorities for the future when they again control Congress and the White House.
The rewritten Voting Rights Act followed the Supreme Court’s Shelby decision guidelines, so it starts off under the premise that it will survive a legal challenge.
Democrats are sending the message that they have the tools to strengthen democracy. They only need voters to give them the power to act.
What do you think of Sen. Warnock’s speech? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
