Harris to lead Biden administration’s voting rights effort

Jun 02, 2021

By Ben Burke (Producer), Alex Peebles (Anchor)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the administration’s efforts on voting rights as Republican state lawmakers across the country attempt to enact voting restrictions.

The efforts by Republican-led state legislatures to pass restrictive laws, which the White House and civil rights groups say make it harder for Americans to vote, follow former President Donald Trump’s false claim that he lost the 2020 election because of widespread election fraud.

President Biden said voting rights in the United States are “under assault” with an intensity he has never seen before. “It’s simply un-American,” he said, while delivering a speech in Oklahoma during the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre.

Tags: Joe Biden

Gwen Baumgardner: RIGHT NOW — VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS IS GETTING READY TO TAKE ON A NEW ROLE.

I’M GWEN BAUMGARDNER WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.

PRESIDENT BIDEN TAPPED HARRIS TO LEAD THE ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS ON VOTING RIGHTS.

HE SAYS THEY ARE “UNDER ASSAULT” FOLLOWING THE 20-20 ELECTIONS.

President Biden: “Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed For The People Act to protect our democracy. The Senate will take it up later this month. And I’m going to fight like heck with every tool at my disposal for its passage. The House is also working in the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is which is critical, providing new legal tool to combat the new assault on the right to vote.”

Gwen Baumgardner: 14 STATES ENACTED LAWS THIS YEAR THAT TIGHTEN THE RULES AROUND CASTING BALLOTS….MANY TARGETING MAIL-IN VOTING.

SOME STATE LEGISLATORS ARGUE THAT UNLESS THERE’S A CHANGE IN POLICY…THERE’S AN INCREASED CHANCE FOR FRAUD.

OVER THE WEEKEND VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS WROTE ON TWITTER ‘WE NEED TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR ELIGIBLE VOTERS TO VOTE. NOT HARDER.’

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