Fogbow

13 mins ago - Axios on HBO
Clyburn predicts Dems will “get around” filibuster on voting rights
Alexi McCammond

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told "Axios on HBO" he expects Senate Democrats will find a way to get around the filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation.

Why it matters: Protecting and expanding voting rights was a major issue Joe Biden campaigned on, but Democrats haven't been able to enact any protections nearly a year into his presidency. Clyburn predicted Congress will combine various bills into one — though he couldn't say when. "It may require some jiu-jitsu, but that's not beyond the Senate to do that," he said. "They'll come up with some way to get around it," Clyburn added. "We had better come up with some way to get around it, because this democracy is teetering on collapse."

Between the lines: The House has passed voting rights and election reform bills but they've been modified and stuck in the Senate for months. The Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are both stalled in the Senate, and Republicans killed the Democrats' For the People Act in the Senate last summer. "We will find a way to get these voting rights bills passed," said Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.

The backdrop: A small group of Senate Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, have been huddling to discuss rules changes that could help pass voting rights without Republican support — but not end the filibuster. Last week, the White House released a fact sheet detailing how it's attempting to "restore and strengthen democracy." In March, President Biden also signed an executive order to promote greater access to voting. Clyburn isn't encouraging his Senate colleagues to eliminate the filibuster, instead arguing the budget reconciliation process "ought to apply to constitutional issues like voting" — even though he isn't a fan of the partisan political ramrod. "I happened to have been around in 1964 and '65, when we had to overcome filibusters to get the Voting Rights Act passed and the Civil Rights Act of '64," he told "Axios on HBO." "When you institutionalize the filibuster, you are institutionalizing racism."

Go deeper: In a wide-ranging conversation during the program's season finale, Clyburn also said he believes Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) should be stripped of her committee assignments — but the GOP needs to hold her accountable itself.

If the White House needs a reminder of the progressive pressure they’re facing on this front, they don’t have to look far. Over the past week, roughly 20 college students from Arizona have been on a hunger strike outside the White House in Lafayette Square urging action on voting rights legislation. The group, affiliated with a political nonprofit founded by former Bernie Sanders campaign organizers, named Un-PAC, has met with Sinema on the issue and is expected to meet with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) on Thursday. The students asked for a meeting with Biden but so far have only been in touch with Justin Levitt, White House senior policy adviser on democracy and voting.

“We really wanted to talk to the Biden administration and show them that we're here,” said Lauren Dorn, 20, an Arizona State University student and organizer with Un-PAC. Dorn had to end her hunger strike after a few days due to health reasons. “There's hundreds and thousands of us across the country who believe in this issue.”

NPR finds 15 Republicans who've denied or cast doubts on the 2020 election results running to be the chief election officer in 12 states—including six of the seven states with Biden's slimmest victory margin. npr.org/2022/01/04/106…

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema appears to torpedo Biden’s chances of getting voting rights legislation through the Senate as she refuses to support changes to filibuster rules. https://washingtonpost.com/politics/bid ... story.html

bob wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:30 pmI presume she'll vote in favor of the voting-rights bill, knowing that'll die for lack of a supermajority in the Senate.

tek wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:28 pm

bob wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:30 pmI presume she'll vote in favor of the voting-rights bill, knowing that'll die for lack of a supermajority in the Senate.

"See! I voted for voting rights!"

This is a Susan Collins move.

RVInit wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:37 pm

tek wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:28 pm

bob wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:30 pmI presume she'll vote in favor of the voting-rights bill, knowing that'll die for lack of a supermajority in the Senate.

"See! I voted for voting rights!"

This is a Susan Collins move.

And Susan Collins continues to successfully get elected over and over again.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A plan by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would establish a special police force to oversee state elections — the first of its kind in the nation — and while his fellow Republicans have reacted tepidly, voting rights advocates fear that it will become law and be used to intimidate voters.

The proposed Office of Election Crimes and Security would be part of the Department of State, which answers to the governor. DeSantis is asking the GOP-controlled legislature to allocate nearly $6 million to hire 52 people to “investigate, detect, apprehend, and arrest anyone for an alleged violation” of election laws. They would be stationed at unspecified “field offices throughout the state” and act on tips from “government officials or any other person.”

DeSantis highlighted his plan as legislators opened their annual 60-day session last week.

“To ensure that elections are conducted in accordance with the rule of law, I propose an election integrity unit whose sole focus will be the enforcement of Florida’s election laws,” he said during his State of the State address. “This will facilitate the faithful enforcement of election laws and will provide Floridians with the confidence that their vote will matter.”

Voting rights experts say that no state has such an agency, one dedicated to patrolling elections and empowered to arrest suspected violators. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced the formation of a “2021 Texas Election Integrity Unit” in October, but that office is more limited in scope, has fewer than 10 employees and isn’t under the governor’s authority.

“There’s a reason that there’s no office of this size with this kind of unlimited investigative authority in any other state in the country, and it’s because election crimes and voter fraud are just not a problem of that magnitude,” said Jonathan Diaz, a voting rights lawyer at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center. “My number one concern is that this is going to be used as a tool to harass or intimidate civic-engagement organizations and voters.”

Texas law changes making mail-in ballot requests more likely to be rejected
By Courtney Carpenter
Wednesday, January 19, 2022 3:23AM

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Mail-in ballots are being rejected across Texas, including Harris County, and that number is on the rise.

"Compared to previous elections, previous primary elections, it's on the rise. That's a big red flag for us," said Harris County Elections Administrator, Isabel Longoria.

Election officials say this is largely due to confusion about what information is required under the new Senate Bill 1.

"We just want everyone to get to participate even though this is short notice and a short turnaround time in terms of being educated about the new process," explained Dr. Annie Johnson-Benifield, the President of the League of Women Voters of Houston.

SB1 went into effect in December, which made it illegal for county elections administrators to send out applications for mail-in ballots, so now, you have to request one.

Under the new law, there are also more rules when it comes to identification requirements for voting by mail and this is where a lot of the confusion is happening.

"It's very strict. If what you give us doesn't match with what we have on file. You gave us the driver's license, but we have social security, we have to reject it even if both of those numbers are true and correct," explained Longoria.



https://abc13.com/in-mail-ballots-texas ... /11485397/

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:04 pm He needs new advisers. The poll is phrased to imply if Americans have a vote, Democrats would win. I don't think he meant to put that out there quite like that.

"It's very strict. If what you give us doesn't match with what we have on file. You gave us the driver's license, but we have social security, we have to reject it even if both of those numbers are true and correct," explained Longoria.

tek wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:51 am

"It's very strict. If what you give us doesn't match with what we have on file. You gave us the driver's license, but we have social security, we have to reject it even if both of those numbers are true and correct," explained Longoria.

Wondering if there is a simple way to find out what ID you have "on file"?

Are you talking, or am I? I'm talking.