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The State Of Voting Rights In America

People hold placards at a rally in front of the US Supreme Court to call on the Senate to pass the For the People Act in Washington DC.
People hold placards at a rally in front of the US Supreme Court to call on the Senate to pass the For the People Act in Washington DC.

Democrats were dealt a blow last week in the fight over voting rights when West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced he’d vote against the For The People Act.  

The bill promised to expand voting rights and combat the onslaught of restrictive voting laws being passed in Republican-held states. Republicans in 48 states have introduced nearly 400 restrictive voting bills since January.

In a piece published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin wrote:

Democrats in Congress have proposed a sweeping election reform bill called the For the People Act. This more than 800-page bill has garnered zero Republican support. Why? Are the very Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump because of actions that led to an attack on our democracy unwilling to support actions to strengthen our democracy? Are these same senators, whom many in my party applauded for their courage, now threats to the very democracy we seek to protect?

The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.

Few believed the For the People Act would pass in the Senate with such a narrow Democratic majority, but what does its failure mean for voting rights? 

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Haili Blassingame