Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on Sunday declared his opposition to sweeping electoral reform, effectively condemning in Congress the bill, which Joe Biden has vigorously defended to counter “unprecedented” attacks on African voting rights. – Americans.
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The text, introduced by Democrats, would invalidate the 15 laws that republican states have already adopted since January that, according to its critics, restrict access to the polls by tightening electoral rules.
“I think this is the wrong bill to unite our country, and I don’t support it because I think it will divide us even more,” said the centrist MP, who represents the conservative state of Washington, from West Virginia.
Any electoral reform “must come from a union of Democrats and Republicans to move forward, or else we risk dividing and destroying” the country, the senator wrote earlier in his controversial stance, in a column in the Charleston Gazette Mail.
Joe Manchin meanwhile reiterated his strong opposition to repealing the rule requiring nearly all bills to have a procedural vote that requires 60 votes in the Senate.
Given the narrow majority of Democrats (50 out of 100 senators, plus Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote), and deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans, this rule risks derailing much of Joe Biden’s social agenda.
His economic reforms still have a chance, by a simple majority, thanks to an exception to this rule.
The electoral reform bill (People’s Law) was adopted in March in the House of Representatives without any Republican vote.
Among other things, it plans to expand the possibilities of registering on electoral rolls, including on polling day itself, and access to the polls by including pre-voting in law and mail.
Democratic President Joe Biden on June 1 promised to fight “like hell” for the passage of this provision in Congress, denouncing “absolutely unprecedented” attacks against minority voting rights.
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