On Saturday, President Joe Biden said a few strong words against the latest voting restrictions bill which is expected to be passed by late Sunday, in Texas. This bill, like its predecessors in Georgia, Florida and other Republican dominated states will make it more difficult for voters to vote as it does away with early voting and more. President Biden said that Senate Bill 7 was “part of an assault on democracy.” In a statement he also said called it wrong and un-American. He said that America should make it easier and not harder for every eligible voter to vote, in the 21st century.
Some of the reported restrictions in the bill include
- banning of drive-through voting
- banning of 24-hour voting
- limiting voting on Sundays
- forbidding election officials from sending absentee ballots to all eligible voters
- banning provision of temporary structures as polling locations
- limiting absentee ballot voting
- making identification requirements more stringent for vote by mail
- empowering partisan poll watchers
- making it easier to overturn the voting results
The bill is almost certain to pass as both the House and the Senate in Texas have a GOP majority. Texas Governor Greg Abbot is also a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. The states across the nation that have a GOP majority have been passing similar bills to appease the former president Donald Trump and his supporters who have bought into the idea of “the big lie.” They say that such the bills have been formulated to maintain “election integrity.”
The elections in Texas had passed off smoothly. Yet, this restrictive bill will be passed by the end of the day. The elections in Florida have been touted as one of the best organized efforts in the nation. Yet, the Sunshine State recently passed restrictions ostensibly to improve the voting process.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice more than fourteen states have approved of or passed restrictive voting laws since Trump lost the November 2020 elections. Despite protests from civil rights groups, advocacy groups and a few corporate entities, states which have a majority of Republicans who can ensure that the restrictive bills will pass, have gone ahead and applied restrictions on voting. Lawsuits have been filed against states that have passed restrictive bills.
