US Voting Rights Push Sunk By Republicans

Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2021 ) :The 2020 US election drew the highest turnout in more than a century, despite a raging pandemic and efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to undermine trust in the voting system.

It was declared the most secure election in US history. Yet states across America have spent months leveraging Trump's false claims of a stolen election to introduce restrictive laws that opponents say are an assault on voting rights.

The curbs have alarmed civil rights activists and prompted President Joe Biden to issue an 11th-hour plea Wednesday for the soul of the nation -- just as senators were voting against debating the issue.

"United States Senate needs to act to protect the sacred constitutional right to vote which is under unrelenting assault by proponents of the Big Lie and Republican governors, secretaries of state, attorneys-general, and state legislatures across the nation," he said in a statement.

"It is urgent. Democracy -- the very soul of America -- is at stake." In Georgia, people handing out drinks or snacks to voters waiting in line can now be criminally charged. In Iowa and Kansas, people returning faulty ballots on behalf of voters with disabilities face prosecution.

Texas has banned drive-thru and 24-hour voting, as well as the promotion of mail-in voting by election officials. Similar laws in more than a dozen other states make life more difficult for voters, say activists.

"These state laws are often aimed at disadvantaging historically underrepresented communities, including communities of color, as well as lower-income voters and people with disabilities," the Center for American Progress said.