This Is the Biggest Voting-Rights Bill to Appear in Congress Since the Civil Rights Movement
Lost in all the attention given to the fact that a freshman congresswoman said A Naughty Word, and that another one went on television with Anderson Cooper and told the truth, was the fact that, as one of its first acts, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives declared open war against the forces of voter suppression and other forms of sophisticated ratfcking.
As part of a massive anti-corruption measure, the Democrats in the House proposed the following, from Vox:
Creating new national automatic voter registration that asks voters to opt out, rather than opt in, ensuring more people will be signed up to vote. Early voting, same-day voter registration, and online voter registration would also be promoted.
Making Election Day a holiday for federal employees and encouraging private sector businesses to do the same, requiring poll workers to provide a week’s notice if poll sites are changed, and making colleges and universities a voter registration agency (in addition to the DMV, etc), among other updates.
Ending partisan gerrymandering in federal elections and prohibiting voter roll purging. The bill would stop the use of non-forwardable mail being used as a way to remove voters from rolls.
Beefing up elections security, including requiring the director of national intelligence to do regular checks on foreign threats.
Recruiting and training more poll workers ahead of the 2020 election to cut down on long lines at the polls.
This is, as Ari Berman of Mother Jones-the best cop on this beat-has said, the most thoroughgoing voting rights bill to appear in the Congress since 1965. It's a strong reaction to at least 20 years of organized vandalism. And it, of course, stands no chance of getting through the U.S. Senate, which is still controlled by Republicans, the party that has benefitted from that vandalism for the past 20 years or so. But it is a conspicuous flag in the ground.
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