What Can Biden Do Now to Protect the Ballot? We Asked Eric Holder and Six Other Voting Rights Expert
As Trump’s Big Lie festers among the Republican Party and political norms continue to erode, we at The New Republic are pretty concerned about the future of small “d” democracy, both in the U.S. and abroad. So we’ve started a series we’ve termed Democracy Watch, wherein we will regularly survey experts, writers, and generally interesting thinkers on a specific question about the state of democracy and what keeps them up at night.
This month’s question: Major voting reform legislation, beyond perhaps changes to the Electoral Count Act, is going nowhere in the Senate. What further action should the Biden administration take to protect ballot access?
Our treasured democracy is at a moment of reckoning. We must do everything we can to protect the integrity of not only presidential elections but all elections. The Senate should consider and pass individual components of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. But with or without new federal laws, the Department of Justice should use its power to vigorously enforce the Voting Rights Act and constitutional voting protections, especially in states that have restricted ballot access in recent years.
Our democracy is in crisis and the Biden Administration must continue to use its bully pulpit to reinforce that message to lawmakers and the American public. The White House must continue to call for action, including congressional action on voting rights. The country needs a reinvigorated Department of Justice that is closely following, documenting, and challenging voter suppression and election subversion in laws recently passed by states.
The New Republic
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