Pence says Jan. 6 no excuse to end filibuster
INDIANAPOLIS – Former Vice President Mike Pence has called out U.S. Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden’s desire to change filibuster rules to pass a voting rights bill.
Pence specifically referenced his experiences during the Capitol riots as he explained his position. “On Jan. 6, an angry mob ransacked the Capitol, largely to try to get Congress and me, as the president of the Senate, to use federal authority to overturn results of the presidential election that had been certified by all 50 states,” Pence wrote in an opinion piece for the Washington Post on Friday.
Pence highlighted states, like Georgia and Arizona, that have enacted voting and election reforms to “restore confidence in the integrity of our elections while ensuring access to voting for every American.”
“Despite this steady progress of state-based reforms, now come President Biden and Senate Democrats with plans to use the memory of Jan. 6 to attempt another federal power grab over our state elections and drive a wedge further into our divided nation,” Pence wrote.
Civil rights advocates, specifically in Georgia, have called the reforms as voter suppression, USA TODAY reported in April 2021.
Pence wrote that the bills would result in “nationalizing our elections” and limit state election powers. He wrote that those powers are held at the state, not federal, level. The two bills – the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act – are now combined into the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.
The bill would allow same-day voter registration and federal “standards on early voting and vote-by-mail options,” according to USA TODAY.
A filibuster, or “action designed to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question,” requires 60 votes to start a debate.