Bipartisan Voting Reform Bill Gaining Steam

[applegrove]

Bipartisan Voting Reform Bill Gaining Steam

January 15, 2022 at 4:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2022/01/15/bipartisan-voting-reform-bill-gaining-steam/

"SNIP.......

New York Times New York Times: “A growing group of Senate Republicans and centrist Democrats is working on legislation to overhaul the Electoral Count Act, the 19th-century law that former President Donald Trump sought to exploit to overturn the 2020 presidential election. That effort is expanding to include other measures aimed at preventing interference in election administration, such as barring the removal of nonpartisan election officials without cause and creating federal penalties for the harassment or intimidation of election officials.”

“Democratic leaders say they regard the effort as a trap — or at least a diversion from the central issue of voter suppression that their legislation aims to address.”

......SNIP"

[ColinC]

1. Hmmm... This actually isn't sounding completely awful

[applegrove]

5. Unless it gives cover to those who would otherwise vote for the John Lewis

and the other voting rights bill. We need all three.

[Nevilledog]

2. This bill is practically useless. It doesn't address election subversion or suppression.

Supporting this is a strategic move on McConnell's part, nothing else.

It'll shake down one of three ways:

* McConnell will predicate GOP votes for this by trying to get Dems to abandon all other voting rights legislation

* It passes and GOP says "See, we care about voting right! We passed this because it's the only thing we need. Everything else the Dems want is just a naked power grab.

* GOP had to pass this or Kamala Harris will steal the presidency for the Dems

They don't care about the certification process cuz they're gonna steal it before it even gets to that stage.

[ColinC]

3. It would already make parts of the Georgia law illegal

As in Georgia the state is being allowed to arbitrarily replace non partisan election workers with partisan ones.

That's the only thing so far though that I saw could help...

[Nevilledog]

4. But it doesn't address the really important things.

Gerrymandering, access of voting etc.

[Kaleva]

6. A bill that doesn't pass and become law doesn't address any issue. Not even really minor ones.

[Nevilledog]

8. I'm not saying don't pass it, just know it's not a cure for the disease.

[Kaleva]

9. Okay. I'll agree with you there.

Pass this bill but keep working hard on passing the main bill.

[Septua]

13. There ain't no cure for the disease...

..except a 60 Democrat Senate, maybe 62 since Manchin and Sinema are quasiDemocrats.

[Raven123]

7. When we see an actual Bill, we can evaluate it's merits

[edhopper]

10. It's a Trojan Horse

It is a sneak attack by McConnell that will prevent Congress from overseeing the EC when Red States overturn the election results.
Why can't people see this is a trap to stop any effort to confront the anti-democratic direction the GOP is taking us.
Don't trust fascists!

[Jazz Jon]

11. What's actually wrong with this bill?

Give me a specific. It seems to me that the worst possible outcome of the next presidential election is that the state legislatures vote to throw out a valid count and substitute their own electors. Does this bill not address this. Also barring the removal of election officials without cause. Isn't that the 2nd worst election outcome? It seems this will address problems number one and two.

Election suppression such as shortening early voting to 14 days, and restricting the use of mail in ballots, etc.
While I would like to see early voting and mail in ballots shored up, aren't these much less important?

Somebody clue me in. How does shortening the early voting period do anywhere near as much damage as allowing state legislatures pick which candidates they want, thus overturning elections?

[Emile]

12. Who are the centrist Democrats?

[EleanorR]

14. Republicans do this to stall and take the heat off

It gives them cover so they don't have to answer questions like, why don't you want people to vote?

Key point in the longer NYTimes article-

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, has said not only would that alternative be wholly insufficient, but it also would probably not materialize.

In 2019, as Democrats were pushing for gun safety legislation after a pair of mass shootings, Republican leaders who opposed the bill raised the prospect of narrower legislation to help law enforcement take guns from those who pose an imminent danger. Once the Democratic bills failed, the more modest one did, too.

[PortTack]

15. If that's all we can get, then I say go for it

If you haven’t read the electoral count act do, it explains much of what the evil gqp and dotard were up to to steal the election. New protections would go a long way in preventing the same again...if he runs..