When Sen. Joe Manchin said he would oppose the For the People Act, Steve Benen of MSNBC spoke for many Democrats when he declared: “Joe Manchin is prepared to be remembered by history as the senator who did little more than hope as his country’s democracy unraveled.”
One can share Democrats’ alarm about the state of our democracy without concluding that the For the People Act was the answer. H.R. 1 is a mashup of sound ideas (requiring a paper record of each vote) with outdated and arguably unconstitutional measures — banning so-called dark money at a time when small-dollar donations are more important; and limiting speech, which the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, opposes.
Some are now saying the Democrats should turn to the John Lewis Act as a response to Republican efforts to address voting rights in the states. But the Lewis Act is off-point, too.
Not all of the measures in these state laws are objectionable. Requiring an ID strikes many people as simple common sense.
Moreover, the far more pressing emergency is the Republican Party’s loosening attachment to democratic procedures and to truth itself. As we saw in the aftermath of 2020, 147 Republican officeholders were willing to decertify the Electoral College count. A few brave local Republican officials resisted tremendous pressure to alter or misreport results. They demonstrated integrity.
The Republican Party is barreling toward disregarding the actual vote count in a presidential contest. The John Lewis Act does not address this.
There is something Democrats can do at the federal level: They can amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Republicans would be unlikely to filibuster this law, so Dems can pass it with a simple majority.
The law directs governors to certify their states’ results and the slate of electors chosen by the voters. It also specifies that in a case of a “failed election,” the state legislature can step in to appoint electors.
The Electoral Count Act decrees that if one representative and one senator object, in writing, to the counting of any state’s electoral votes, the bodies must adjourn to their chambers to debate the matter.
Forget H.R. 1. Forget campaign finance. Don’t perseverate on whether poll watchers can distribute water to voters waiting in line. It’s not the vote casting but the vote counting that needs attention. Now.
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June 15, 2021 at 05:19PM
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It's time for Democrats to move on from H.R. 1 - Martins Ferry Times Leader
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