(RightWing.org) – Here we go again. Democrats just can’t leave it alone. On Tuesday, September 14, Senate Democrats introduced another sweeping election reform bill to counter GOP-led states that recently passed their own election legislation. Democrats already tried twice to radicalize America’s election system in their favor. As Republican state legislatures begin the final stages of approving redistricting plans, congressional Democrats are giving their reforms another try as they face the real prospect of losing Congress in 2022.
In the spring and summer, Democrats failed to get enough Republicans to vote for HR1 and HR 4. Both bills sought to federalize elections and hijack the US Constitution. Democrats allege the new Republican state laws make it harder for minorities and low-income Americans to vote. However, to this point, federal courts and the US Supreme Court have disagreed. Republicans say that election laws should make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.
New Bill Comes as Democratic Seats Head for Waste Baskets
The newly modified federal election bill is labeled “The Freedom to Vote Act.” It’s another catchy name designed to mislabel the true intention of the legislation. However, a difference this time from the previously failed bills is that Democratic moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is working to help pass the slimmed-down measure and get Republican support. For a bill to pass, 10 GOP Senators will need to cross the aisle and vote with Democrats to overcome a filibuster. The odds of that happening are almost zero.
Despite the odds against the bill, Democrats included voter ID requirements they once labeled as racist, an extension of early voting, making Election Day a national holiday, implementing election security measures, campaign finance reforms, and banning gerrymandering. It’s questionable what some of these items mean and how the government would enforce them.
Despite the Constitutional debate, the measures are non-starters with Republicans, making the Constitutional points moot. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the effort was another “fake solution in search of a problem.” He added the GOP wouldn’t allow Democrats with razor-thin majorities to overrule state and local election laws.
Redistricting Underway
As states begin finalizing redistricting efforts, the Democrat bill is a last-ditch effort to show the Democratic base their elected officials are trying to do something to stop the GOP. Regardless, before the states could even present their new Congressional districts for consideration, Democrats were already screaming they were victims of gerrymandering.
The reality is Democrats had 10 years to oust Republicans from state legislatures, yet they failed. In 2020, Republicans held the House, Senate, and governorship in 21 states. In total, the GOP controlled 52% of the state legislatures across the country. After the 2020 election, Republicans expanded their state majorities.
Now, GOP lawmakers are shoring up over a dozen hotly contested House seats as they narrow the Democrats’ hold on the US House of Representatives. On Wednesday, Republicans in Indiana announced the first wave of new redistricting efforts. The legislature unveiled a draft that would make the state’s most competitive district safe from Democrat contention in parts of Indianapolis.
Next up for the GOP is making vulnerable and tough districts in South Carolina, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Utah ruby red.
Democrats know that election law reforms along with redistricting are a nightmare for their Congressional hopes long-term. This explains their desire to ram through the Left’s agenda now while they can. Once laws are in place, they can be hard to overturn. Just ask those who tried to get rid of Obamacare after 2010. It’s a shell of what it was, but it’s still with us.
The reality is that Democrats are crying wolf. In deep-blue New York, Democrats are also gerrymandering in hopes of increasing their seats at the expense of Republicans. If the shoe were on the other foot and Dems carried the majority of states, this wouldn’t be an issue for them.
It’s all politics in elections and governance.
There may be more news about redistricting and its impact on elections from 2022 through 2031 in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned.
Don Purdum, Independent Political Analyst
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