WASHINGTON (AP) – Stacey Abrams, whose voting rights work helped make Georgia an undecided state, urged Congress on Thursday to reject “blatant lies” that historically restricted access to voting while Democrats began their effort for a general review of elections and ethics laws.
“A lie concealed by the alluring appeal of electoral integrity has weakened access to democracy for millions,” said Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost the race for governor of Georgia in 2018, during a committee hearing for the project, which was presented as HR 1 to signal how important it is to the party’s agenda.
Democrats feel urgent to enact legislation before the 2022 mid-term elections, when their narrow majorities in the House and Senate will be at risk. The bill, which good government groups championed, is advancing against a backdrop of Republican-controlled states taking advantage of former President Donald Trump’s false claims about a stolen 2020 election to promote legislation that would make it more difficult to vote. Democrats argue that voters of color, a key constituency for the party, would be disproportionately affected.
Related: Republican state lawmakers intend to change voting laws after the 2020 elections
He also comes to the brink of a redistribution of electoral districts once in a decade, a highly partisan affair that is normally controlled by state legislatures. With Republicans controlling the majority of the House, the process alone could help the Republican Party win enough seats to recapture the House. The Democratic bill, instead, would require the limits to be drawn by independent commissions.
“Every political player knows what is at stake,” said Fred Wertheimer, the president of Democracy 21, a group of good non-partisan government based in Washington. “There is a dispute between what is happening in the Republican state legislatures and this effort to pass federal rules to protect the voting rights of all eligible citizens.”
For Republicans, the proposal amounts to massive federal intrusion into locally administered elections. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Criticized the measure the last time it was debated in Congress, calling it the “Democratic Politician Protection Act”.
“If this bill were to become law, it would be the biggest expansion of the federal government’s role in the elections we’ve seen,” said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill. “The damage to the states’ electoral process outweighs the lower charges imposed on voting rights.”
The debate over the measure comes in the tumultuous sequence of the 2020 election, which saw a record postal vote because of the pandemic. After losing the White House, Trump repeated ad nauseam a false claim that the result was due to widespread voter fraud, as he tried to overthrow President Joe Biden’s victory.
But there was no widespread fraud, as confirmed by election officials across the country and then-attorney general William Barr. Dozens of legal challenges to the election presented by Trump and his allies have been rejected, including by the Supreme Court.
Republican-controlled state legislatures, encouraged to act on Trump’s claims, still acted to put new voting restrictions in place in dozens of states, including Abrams Georgia.
That’s where the Democrats’ congressional effort comes into play.
Citing Congressional constitutional authority to define the time, place and form of federal elections, Democrats want national rules that they believe would make voting more uniform, accessible and fair across the country. The bill would frustrate the Republican Party’s efforts by requiring early voting, same-day registration and other long-sought reforms that Republicans reject.
The 791-page measure, which was first introduced two years ago, would also require dark money political groups to disclose anonymous donors, as well as create reporting requirements for online political ads. Almost $ 2 billion would be appropriate for electoral infrastructure upgrades. And, in a rear-view wave to Trump, it would force presidents to disclose their tax returns.
Despite the Republican Party’s fierce opposition, the bill will pass the House. But daunting challenges lie ahead in the Senate, which is split 50/50 between Republicans and Democrats. In some legislations, it only takes 51 votes to pass, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker.
In a deeply controversial bill like this, they would need 60 votes under current Senate rules to overcome Republican obstruction – a count they are unlikely to achieve.
Under pressure from the left flank of the party, the Democrats have proposed to remove the obstruction, but have no votes to do so. It is an open question whether Democrats will find ways around this obstacle, potentially pooling votes to change obstruction rules to exempt specific types of legislation – including those dealing with voting rights.
Given the closing window to pass the legislation before 2022, many in the party remain hopeful that it will be sanctioned by Biden, whose government said the project is a priority.
“We may not have the opportunity to make this change again for many, many decades, so we are not going to miss that window,” said John Sarbanes, a Democrat from Maryland who is the main advocate of the project. “What a shame if we don’t do that.”