Congress must act to protect voting right

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If it wasn’t already obvious that Congress must act to protect voting rights, Georgia’s enactment of the deceptively named Election Integrity Act of 2021 underscores the urgency of that mission. The new measure restricts the placement of ballot drop boxes, adds new ID requirements for obtaining absentee ballots and gives the state legislature a larger role in election oversight. Its most offensive provision bars people from offering food and drink to voters standing in line, a practice intended to ensure voters aren’t deterred from voting by hunger or thirst. Defenders of this prohibition claim it’s designed to stop electioneering and bribery, but another passage in the law forbids soliciting votes ‘‘in any manner or by any means or method’’.

Other states with Republican-controlled legislatures may pass even worse laws making it harder for voters – to exercise the franchise. That raises the stakes for election legislation in Congress. It’s imperative that Congress enact the core voting provisions of the mammoth For the People Act (HR 1) – including requirements that states allow wide use of mailin ballots and provide a minimum number of days for early voting – as well as a provision entrusting congressional redistricting to independent commissions. Some election provisions in HR 1 could be refined without compromising the central goal of ensuring minimum standards for federal elections across the country. As President Biden has said, successful electoral politics is ‘‘the art of the possible’’.