Democrats have used the new ballot restrictions in Georgia to draw attention to the struggle to overhaul federal election laws, creating a slow deadlock that bears echoes of the civil rights struggle of half a century ago.
In fiery speeches, sharp statements and tweets, party leaders on Friday promulgated the law signed by the state’s Republican governor the day before as specifically aimed at suppressing black and Latino votes and a threat to democracy. President Joe Biden released an elaborate statement calling the law an attack on “good conscience” denying the right to vote for “countless” Americans.
“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century,” Biden said, referring to laws of the last century enforcing heavy-handed racial segregation in the South.
‘It has to end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act, ”he said. He told reporters that Georgian law is an “atrocity” and the Justice Department is investigating.
Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp hit back, accusing Biden of “destroying the sanctity and security of the ballot box” by supporting what the governor sees as a federal breach of state responsibilities.
Behind the chorus of outrage, Democrats are also grappling with the limits of their power in Washington, as long as Senate rules allow Republicans to block important legislation, including HR 1, a sweeping election law now pending in the Senate.
Biden and his party are trying to build and maintain momentum in the realm of public opinion – hoping to rein in what has hitherto been a Republican-led, state-by-state movement to gain access to the vote. curb, nationalize as they start slowly, arduous legislative process. Allies, meanwhile, plan to fight Georgian law, and others, in court.
“What is currently happening in Georgia underscores the importance and urgency,” said Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., In an interview Friday.
“This is about what’s fundamental to our identity as an American people – one person, one voice.”
The emerging brawl over politics and voting access policies is on the rise like nothing seen in recent years, harking back to what many Americans may assume are well-negotiated rules that ensure equal access to the polls.
But as Republican-controlled state lawmakers from Georgia to Iowa to Arizona are taking dramatic measures to limit early voting and enforce new voter identification requirements, the Washington debate threatens the nation’s massive political divisions in the early days of the presidency. of Biden. as the democratic president promises to unite the country.
It is expected to be months of slogging through the closely-divided Congress, particularly the Senate, where Democrats are, for now, unwilling to bolster their small majority to change the filibuster’s rules, despite the party’s urgent calls to action.
Instead, the Democrats are willing to pass legislation the old-fashioned way, making arguments steadfast in lengthy Senate debates, running from committee hearings to the Senate floor, and forcing opponents to stand on the record as in the way – just as Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was positioned when he enacted the Civil Rights Act of the last century.
“They are literally squeezing the arteries of America’s lifeblood,” Senator Cory Booker, DN.J., the son of civil rights activists, said in an interview. “They are smothering what makes us distinctive and unique on planet Earth.”
However, Booker would not openly call for an end to the filibuster, a parliamentary instrument that in some cases requires at least 60 votes to advance Senate legislation.
On Friday, the president revived his call to Congress to enact HR 1, an election overhaul that would face Republican restrictions. He also called for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore some aspects of a landmark law that was dropped by the Supreme Court in 2013.
But Biden, like an ever-diminishing number of other powerful Democrats, remains unwilling to embrace the so-called “nuclear option” – ending the filibuster – for fear that the country would be further divided.
Meanwhile, political struggles in Georgia intensified, where years of voter registration in black communities and steady population changes helped Biden win the once solid red state.
Just as Kemp and several white state lawmakers celebrated the signing of the state’s new electoral law on Thursday, state police officers handcuffed state Rep. Park Cannon, a black woman, after knocking on the door of the governor’s cabinet.
Cannon was charged with impeding law enforcement and disrupting the General Assembly, both offenses. She was released from prison at the end of Thursday. Donald Trump, the former president who promoted false allegations of electoral fraud, congratulated Georgia’s governor and state leaders on the new law.
As Congress enters the fray, a tidal wave of outside effort is spending millions trying to influence the debate and put political pressure on voters, businesses and lawmakers in both parties.
A $ 30 million ad campaign comes from the liberal group, End Citizens United, which is partnering with former Attorney General Eric Holder’s anti-gerrymandering group, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, in an effort to convince Democratic and Republican senators to are considered swing voices.
Other efforts are also underway, including from former first lady Michelle Obama, through the impartial celebrity “When We All Vote” organization.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton said Friday that he is working with religious leaders in West Virginia and Arizona to put pressure on Democratic home state senators. He is well aware that this fight could take a while.
“I am ready to continue this fight no matter how long it takes,” he said. “Look how long it took before we got the right to vote.”
Sharpton also suggested that black voters have been boosted by the debate, which could lead to a surge in participation in next year’s midterm elections, despite the Republicans’ new voting requirements.
“Because they are so obvious, I think they play a role in our national strategy,” said Sharpton. “We just need the Democrats in the Senate to stand up.”
Georgian law requires photo ID to vote absent by mail, shortens the time people have to request an absentee vote, and limits where ballots can be placed and when they are accessible. The bill was a watered-down version of some of the proposals being considered by the GOP-led General Assembly.
HR 1 is huge, and its Senate counterpart would face the new Georgian law by expanding postal and early voting, both popular during the pandemic. It would open up wider access to ballots by creating automatic voter registration nationwide, allowing former criminals to vote and limiting the way states can remove registered voters from the lists. It also covers campaign finance and ethical laws.
Still, Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, warned that his party would take Republicans to court “and fight over it.” A lawsuit filed late Thursday in the U.S. court in Atlanta by three groups – New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter Fund, and Rise – disputed key provisions of the new Georgia law, saying they violated the Voting Rights Act.
But Harrison also recognized that the filibuster was an “obstacle” to the efforts of the national Democrats to reverse the changes supported by the Republicans.
“I’m getting the message across to everyone, especially on my side of the aisle, that people are very, very upset about where things are going right now,” Harrison told The AP.
The chairman continued, “I’m going to do everything in my power, with every breath in my body, with every drop of blood running through my veins, to make sure we fight this.”
“We’re not going back to Jim Crow 2.0,” he said. “So we have to do what we have to do to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Peoples reported from New York. Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Bill Barrow, Josh Boak and Aamer Madhani contributed.