WASHINGTON — Republican state legislators’ attack on voting rights continues unabated, with states like Arizona, Florida, and Texas joining the GOP’s national push for voter suppression. Yet even as Republican officials race to restrict one of Americans’ fundamental political freedoms, Democratic state legislators are leading the push to expand access to the ballot box, working so that every voter has an equal opportunity to make their voices heard.
“Voting is one of the greatest freedoms we enjoy as Americans, which is why Democrats are doing everything in our power to protect voting from Republican attacks,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post. “The GOP would rather destroy our democracy than come to terms with the abject unpopularity of their agenda. Democrats are not afraid of the voters, which is why Democratic state legislators across the country are standing up to protect Americans’ right to vote.”
AP: As GOP restricts voting, Democrats move to expand access
Last year, for the first time in more than a quarter-century, Democrats in Virginia took control of the statehouse and the governor’s mansion. Since then, one priority has become clear: expanding voting rights.
Once home to the capital of the Confederacy, Virginia has made Election Day a state holiday, repealed a voter identification law and allowed no-excuse absentee voting. Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam approved a sweeping voting rights act, reinstating election rules once required by federal law to prevent racial discrimination.
Other Democratic states also are acting to remove restrictions to the ballot — in marked contrast to many Republican-controlled states that are moving in the opposite direction. Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Iowa have already passed restrictive voting laws; Ohio and Texas are considering their own.
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