Earlier this month in Selma, Democratic Party leaders present for the annual “Bloody Sunday” commemoration signaled voting issues would be a significant feature of future policy efforts and political campaigns.
Among those for the occasion making those overtures was Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), who touted the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives’ efforts on voting, which included H.R. 1 and Sewell’s own H.R. 4.
In an appearance on Sunday’s “AM Joy” on MSNBC, Sewell and host Joy Reid speculated on GOP opposition to H.R. 1, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said was dead on arrival upon the House’s passage.
“In your view, and I’m sure you talk to Republicans on the other side of the aisle on the floor – do Republicans believe if more people get to vote, they won’t win?” Reid asked.
“I mean, I think that that’s the underlying premise,” Sewell replied. “They won’t say it like that. Instead, they’ll say things like, ‘Terri, I know you want to reinstate pre-clearance, but why are you picking and choosing winners and losers, and picking on old states of the Confederacy based on what happened in the 1960s?’ And I say to them, ‘You know, I would love it – I think that voting is such a cornerstone of our democracy that we should have pre-clearance for every state that tries to change voting laws.’”
“Of course, you and I both know that is a very expensive proposition,” she continued. “And Republicans aren’t willing to pay for that, or to beef up the Justice Department in order to do that. So we have to look for the most pernicious state actors. And what we’ve seen since the Shelby decision, we’ve seen states across this nation institute more restrictive voter ID laws, making it harder for folks to vote, or certain segments of the population, most vulnerable parts of our population, harder to vote.”
“And so, we do need to reinstate Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act,” she added. “That’s my bill, H.R. 4. But I do believe that H.R. 1, we passed on Friday, is a great placeholder, if you will, for what we as Democrats believe our democracy should be.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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