Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused Republicans of wanting to “make it harder to vote and easier to steal an election.”
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “The Texas Senate just passed this morning sweeping new voting restrictions, a bill to ban drive-thru voting, new rules how judges can overturn elections. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer says he will bring up Democrats sweeping voting rights legislation for a vote next month, but there are not 60 votes to pass it. So what are you going to do, and what’s your reaction to the Texas law?”
Jeffries said, “Well, the Texas law is shameful, and Republicans clearly in Texas and throughout the country want to make it harder to vote and easier to steal an election. That is the only way to I could interpret the voter suppression epidemic that we see working its way from one state Georgia to Arizona to Texas and all across the country in so many different ways.”
He continued, “Fundamental to our Democracy is the right to vote, self-government, that the American people get to decide and work for a democracy that reflects the voices of all Americans, not just a certain segment, not just conservatives, not just Republicans, not just people in certain parts of the country, all Americans. So I support the effort to move HR-1, The For People Act.”
Jeffries added, “We’ll have to see what occurs in the Senate in terms of whether they could get to the 60 vote threshold. The Senate has some decisions to make in terms of reviewing their archaic procedures that have been used to uphold institutions like slavery and Jim Crow.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN