voting rights

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Biden: Alter Filibuster If Need Be for Voting Rights

President says he'd support working around the rule for this issue

(Newser) - The Senate's filibuster rule is one of the main obstacles to passage of a voting rights law. President Biden, a longtime member of the Senate, says he no longer supports letting that barrier—which requires 60 votes to approve most measures—remain. "If the only thing standing between...

King Family: MLK Day Will Be a Day for Action, Not Celebration

They want Biden to push as hard for voting rights as he did for infrastructure

(Newser) - Martin Luther King Jr. Day next month shouldn't be a day of celebration unless lawmakers act on federal voting rights bills, the civil rights leader's family says. Martin Luther King III, his wife Arndrea Waters King, and their daughter Yolanda Renee King intend to mobilize activists over MLK...

New York Set to Expand Voting Rights to Noncitizens
Noncitizens
Will Soon Be
Able to Vote
in NYC
UPDATED

Noncitizens Will Soon Be Able to Vote in NYC

Bill that would let legal residents vote in local elections passes city council

(Newser) - Update: The New York City Council on Thursday night approved a measure that would give noncitizens the right to vote in local elections, assuming Mayor Bill de Blasio does not try to veto it—which he has pledged not to do, though he says he has concerns about the legislation....

University of Florida Reverses Decision on Professors

They will be allowed to provide testimony on voting-rights issue

(Newser) - Update: Reversing its previous position, the University of Florida said Friday that it would allow professors to testify as experts in a lawsuit challenging a new state law that critics say restricts voting rights, per the AP . The university last month had said that the three professors were prohibited...

US Sues to Block Texas Voting Restrictions
US Sues
Texas
Over New
Voting Law

US Sues Texas Over New Voting Law

Legislation affects rights of disabled voters, members of military, filing says

(Newser) - Although Gov. Greg Abbott said a new voting law would make it " easier than ever " for Texans to cast a ballot, the Justice Department filed suit Thursday arguing that the legislation would instead disenfranchise various groups of eligible voters. The law makes many changes, but the suit emphasizes...

Voting Rights Bill Hits GOP Wall
GOP Turns Back
Voting Rights Bill

GOP Turns Back Voting Rights Bill

Democrats to lobby each other on changing filibuster rule after another loss

(Newser) - Republican senators put a stop Wednesday to Democratic legislation to overhaul elections. The Freedom to Vote Act needed 60 votes; the count was 49-51, the Hill reports. "For every two steps forward, sometimes there are those who try to pull us one step back," Sen. Chuck Schumer said....

New Texas Voting Restrictions Signed Into Law

Greg Abbott claims bill will make it easier to vote

(Newser) - The day Texas Democrats fought for months to prevent is here—Gov. Greg Abbott has signed an election overhaul into law, a week after it was passed by the GOP-controlled state legislature. Abbott, who signed the bill at a ceremony in Tyler, said it would make it "easier than...

Texas Legislature Sends Voting Bill to Governor

Overhaul was passed after months of drama

(Newser) - The GOP-controlled Texas Legislature passed a broad overhaul of the state’s election laws Tuesday, tightening already strict voting rules and dealing a bruising defeat to Democrats who waged a monthslong fight over what they argued was a brazen attempt to disenfranchise minorities and other Democratic-leaning voters. From the AP...

Voting Rights Rallies Draw Thousands

Speakers put pressure on Biden as well as Congress for protections

(Newser) - Thousands of people rallied across the US on Saturday to call for sweeping federal laws to wipe out election legislation advancing in some Republican-controlled states that could make it harder to cast a ballot. Many activists view the fight over voting rules as the civil rights issue of the era....

Texas House Passes Election Overhaul

With Democrats back, voting restrictions go to Senate for final OK

(Newser) - With the Texas House back in business, Republicans pushed a broad election overhaul through on Friday and sent it to the Senate. The legislation already cleared the Senate but had to go back to reconcile minor differences between the two versions. The package then will go to Gov. Greg Abbott,...

Texas Lawmaker Speaks Nonstop for 15 Hours

But state Sen. Carol Alvarado's filibuster fails to stop passage of new voting rules

(Newser) - The drama over new voting rules in Texas continues to escalate: A Democratic lawmaker donned sneakers and a back brace Wednesday evening before she began speaking on the Senate floor—then continued speaking and standing for 15 hours, until Thursday morning, reports the Texas Tribune . Under state rules, State Sen....

5 Texas Lawmakers Who Left the State Get COVID

Democrats were pictured maskless on plane

(Newser) - Two more Texas lawmakers who left their state to hobble efforts to pass new voting restrictions have tested positive for the coronavirus, raising to five the number of infected people in the delegation, the AP reports. State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio said in a statement Sunday that...

Biden Slams Trump&#39;s &#39;Big Lie&#39;
Biden Slams Trump's 'Big Lie'

Biden Slams Trump's 'Big Lie'

President delivers address on voting rights

(Newser) - "We’re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War," President Biden warned in a speech to supporters in Philadelphia Tuesday. The president, speaking at the National Constitution Center, spoke out against GOP-led efforts to restrict voting rights, linking them to Donald Trump's...

Texas Democrats Flee State to Head Off Voting Laws

House members fly to Washington to seek help from Congress

(Newser) - Unable to block the measures with their votes, Democratic legislators are leaving Texas rather than see new election laws passed. "Texas House Democrats stand united in our decision to break quorum and refuse to let the Republican-led legislature force through dangerous legislation that would trample on Texans' freedom to...

Texas Man Who Waited Hours to Vote Arrested For Voting

Hervis Rogers says he did not know he couldn't vote while on parole

(Newser) - A Texas man waited in line for six hours to do his civic duty—the last one to vote in the 2020 presidential primary at his polling station. A photo of him with his hard-won “I voted” sticker went viral. Then he got arrested, Houston Public Media reports. Hervis...

Senate Republicans Block Voting Rights Bill

Vote on For the People Act was 50-50

(Newser) - The biggest voting rights bill in decades met its widely expected fate in the evenly divided Senate Tuesday, with Republicans unified in opposition. Senators voted 50-50 on advancing the For the People Act, the Hill reports. Democrats needed 60 votes to overcome the GOP filibuster and advance the bill to...

McConnell Responds to Manchin's Voting Law Pitch

Senate minority leader says 'plan endorsed by Stacey Abrams is no compromise'

(Newser) - On Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin offered up a long list of reforms to proposed voting rights legislation that he hoped would appeal to both Democrats and Republicans. But by later that day, the GOP made clear the compromise effort wasn't drawing them in. Per Axios , Senate Minority Leader Mitch...

Joe Manchin Floats a Voting-Law Compromise
Joe Manchin's Big Move
on Voting Law
the rundown

Joe Manchin's Big Move on Voting Law

Democratic senator floats a compromise ahead of next week's vote

(Newser) - Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia earned the wrath of fellow Democrats earlier this month when he announced that he wouldn't back a major election-reform law. Now, ahead of next week's vote, Manchin has put a compromise in play. Coverage:
  • Manchin released a lengthy list of reforms he
...

Democratic Senator Bucks Party on Voting Bill

Without Joe Manchin's vote, the measure has no path forward

(Newser) - A key Democratic senator says he will not vote for the largest overhaul of US election law in a generation, leaving no path forward for legislation that his party and the White House have portrayed as crucial for protecting access to the ballot. "Voting and election reform that...

County Bans Coke Machines Over New Voting Law

Surry County in North Carolina says company is catering to 'bigoted leftist mob'

(Newser) - Good luck finding a Coke at government facilities in Surry County, NC. Nearly two months after Coca Cola's CEO voiced opposition to Georgia's new voting restrictions , leaders of the county in neighboring North Carolina punished him with a measure requiring the removal of all Coke machines from government...

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