‌‌‌End Of The Line For Congressional Voting Rights Legislation?

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If there was a “plan” or “timeline” for federal voting rights legislation in the U.S. Congress, it has run its course. Several iterations of voting rights legislation have been introduced and have failed, despite Democrats’ control of both chambers. It is now clearer than ever: If Democrats want action, it must go through the filibuster. 

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Alright, let’s dig in.

There’s Not Much Else to Say About The Path For Federal Voting Rights Legislation 

...because we’ve said it so many times: Republicans aren’t interested. If Democrats want something passed with a 51-50 majority (with the vice president casting that tie-breaking vote) they need to deal with the filibuster.

Even after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) negotiated his own favored version of the legislation, on the premise that he’d be able to whip up Republican support, not a single GOP senator supported even debating the measure. 

So: It’s time for Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to act on the filibuster, if they want any legislation on this front to become law.

Last week, President Joe Biden acknowledged that fact in the clearest terms, for him, yet. “We're going to have to move to the point where we fundamentally alter the filibuster,” he said Thursday.

Whether change ultimately happens, however, comes down to the Senate, which sets its own rules. And it brings us back to the question Democrats have been asking all year: Can Biden — or anyone — sway Sinema and Manchin? The budget reconciliation process hasn’t offered much reassurance on this point. But preserving democracy is a top Biden administration priority!

New Texas Maps Show Racial Gerrymandering, Suit Says

Civil rights organizations have sued the state of TEXAS over the new state and federal legislative maps even before the maps were finalized. Why? Because, they argued, it was clear the newly drawn districts empowered state Republicans’ white conservative base, and diminished the power of minority voters.
 

Non-white voters made up 95% of Texas’ growth over the past decade, according to census figures. As a share of total population, Latinos and non-Hispanic whites are now roughly even in the state: 39.3% v. 39.8%, respectively.
 

And yet the districts show an alternate political reality: Congressional districts in which voting-age whites make up a majority rose from 22 to 23 under the new maps. Voting-age Latinos make up a majority in just seven districts, down from eight. Voting-age Black Texans make up a majority in zero districts, down from one.

Around The States

As we flagged two weeks ago, MICHIGAN Republicans have quietly replaced several county-level canvassers tasked with certifying the vote. I spoke with the newest member of the four-member Wayne County Canvassing Board, tasked with certifying Detroit’s vote…. It’s worth reading for yourself. 

Also in that state: The Independent Redistricting Commission’s proposed state and federal legislative maps may violate the Voting Rights Act.
 

VIRGINIA Democrats sued the U.S. Postal Service Friday, alleging that mail delays threatened to disenfranchise thousands of voters.

A federal judge ruled ILLINOIS’ redistricting maps unconstitutional because the legislature didn’t wait for actual census data before drawing them, seeking to avoid turning the process over to a bipartisan commission. 
 

TEXAS’ new secretary of state worked briefly on a Trumpy 2020 election lawsuit to invalidate every vote in PENNSYLVANIA. 
 

One of the citizen-submitted maps considered by the VIRGINIA Redistricting Commission was seemingly drawn, at least in part, by the National Republican Redistricting Trust. 
 

The Trump-endorsed secretary of state candidate in MICHIGAN spoke at a QAnon conference. Her campaign swore she didn’t know about the nature of the conference, even though the event is hosted by a group led by a man who goes by “QAnon John.” She was one of several secretary of state candidates to address the gathering.
 

The nonpartisan organization representing FLORIDA’s elections supervisors, a bipartisan bunch, is begging elected officials to stop lying about election fraud.

The Latest In Audit Mania

We reported last week on the dozens of state legislators calling for a “50-state” “audit” of the last election results. (Read: Just tell us Trump won.) 
 

...but would you be surprised to learn that at least three signatories are also members of the OATH KEEPERS, as identified in news coverage of a recently-leaked membership list and state lawmakers’ public statements? (Arizona State Sens. Wendy Rogers, State Rep. Mark Finchem, and Idaho State Rep. Chad Christiensen.) Other state lawmakers involved in the election truther movement, like ALASKA State Rep. David Eastman, are also Oath Keepers. 

A Las Vegas, NEVADA man, the treasurer of a company owned by a prominent Trump supporter, went public last year with troubling news: Someone had illegally voted on his dead wife’s behalf. Now, that man faces charges: He is the alleged perpetrator. 
 

At an event Thursday, TEXAS Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) was heckled by a woman who shouted that Donald Trump had won the election, and referring to Joe Biden’s presidency, that “this is an overthrow!” Paxton responded, “I agree with you.” 
 

The COLORADO Supreme Court this week upheld a lower court’s ruling: Tina Peters, under federal investigation for the leak of sensitive voting machine software, cannot administer this year’s elections. 
 

Legislators’ negotiations with vendors for the bogus review of PENNSYLVANIA’s 2020 vote are happening in private.
 

Meanwhile: Pink Pig Protests Pointless Penn Poll Probe 

Dallas Morning News: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has paid his first voter fraud bounty. It went to an unexpected recipient (...a Democrat who reported a Republican)
 

CNN: Fact-checking Kari Lake, serial promoter of election lies and early frontrunner in GOP primary for Arizona governor
 

TPM: A Little-Noticed Supreme Court Ruling Could Help Build A Dam Against Foreign Money In American Elections

Associated Press: Race-blind redistricting? Democrats incredulous at GOP maps

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