Republicans and Democrats are joining forces to pass an election bill.
Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin are seeking to re-authorize the Voting Rights Act.
Although, some people have questioned whether the bill is actually about protecting the election integrity.
One of the more concerning aspects of the bill would restore the politicized Department of Justice’s authority to block states seeking to make changes to election laws. A release was filed on the senators’ joint effort to restore the DOJ authority.
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“Inaction is not an option. Congress must come together – just as we have done time and again – to reaffirm our longstanding bipartisan commitment to free, accessible, and secure elections for all. We urge you to join us in calling for the bipartisan reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act through regular order. We can do this. We must do this,” they wrote in the letter.
“We reflect not just on the positive impact this legislation has had on individual Americans’ ability to exercise their most fundamental right – the right to vote – and the strength of our democracy writ large, but on the important work we still have to do to realize that promise of ensuring the right of all to vote,” the letter continued.
“Congress last reauthorized the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2006,” the Hill notes. “But the Supreme Court, in 2013, gutted the law when it struck down the formula for determining if state and local governments were required to get Justice Department preclearance for voting and election changes, arguing that it was outdated.”
“Democrats have rallied around the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would revive the formula and try to strengthen the 1965 law,” the report added.
“But while previous reauthorizations of the Voting Rights Act have gotten bipartisan support, the bill would likely face challenges getting the votes needed to defeat a filibuster in the Senate,” the report continued. “Murkowski was the only GOP co-sponsor for the bill during the previous Congress.”
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