GOPer: Voting rights bill is a ‘power grab’
Democrats’ voting reform legislation goes too far, Senate Republicans said on Sunday.
The sweeping voting rights bill that passed in the House but stalled in the Senate is “the biggest power grab in the history of the country,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“It’s just a bad idea, and it’s a problem that most Republicans are not going to sign — they’re trying to fix a problem most Republicans have a different view of,” said the South Carolina senator.
The landmark “For the People Act,” touching on almost every aspect of the electoral process, aims to limit partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, remove hurdles to voting and bring transparency to the country’s murky campaign finance system.
The bill was crafted as Republican state lawmakers around the country have been writing an unprecedented number of bills tightening access to the ballot.
The House of Representatives passed the legislation in March, but it has stalled in the Senate since centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said he wouldn’t back it as long as no Republicans were onboard.
Manchin’s own compromise proposal came under criticism from another Republican pol, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, what he does is what the larger bill ... does, which is it takes the election system in this country and federalizes it, so it’s a federal takeover of our election system,” Portman said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I appreciate he’s trying to find that middle ground, and — who knows? — maybe something can be done,” he added.
While leaving much of the “For the People Act” intact, Manchin has proposed an ID requirement to vote in federal elections.
So far, that’s not good enough for GOP leaders.
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called Manchin’s proposal “equally unacceptable.”
He predicted GOP lawmakers will remain opposed to the bill, no matter the proposed changes.