Voting Right Act 2021

In the fight for voting rights, this vote was the starting gun, not the finish line.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Republicans preventing debate on a new legislation on voting rights.

• The bill formerly known as “For the People Act” was passed in March by the House of Representatives.
• It includes proposals such as making it easier across all states to vote by mail; states currently set their own rules and regulations for such voting.
• Here’s added context from The Wall Street Journal: Democrats have sought to allow voters to attest to their identities through a signature instead of an ID, and to mandate no-excuse absentee voting, which would essentially require widespread mail-in voting.
• The bill halted in the Senate, receiving no Republican support. Here’s one example of a critique by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas: “Democrats’ #CorruptPoliticiansAct was designed to register millions of illegal aliens and convicted felons to vote which would have diluted and stolen votes from legal American citizens.”

Why It Matters: While not moving forward, this bill highlights major disagreements between the two parties on appropriate voting practices in America.

Here’s a good read on a procedural rule in the Senate now also being debated: White House Says Democrats Might Revisit Filibuster Rules If Voting Rights Bill Fails

From March: Fact-checking misleading attacks on the HR 1 voting rights bill