Barack Obama.Photo: ROBERT PERRY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Barack Obamais lending his voice to the fight to protect voting rights.
Obama shared a link to the op-ed — published onUSA Today— on Instagram Wednesday and wrote, “Now is the time for the U.S. Senate to do the right thing and call a vote on crucial voting rights legislation. Future generations are counting on us to protect our democracy.”
“That’s why I fully support @POTUS’s call to modify Senate rules as necessary to make sure pending voting rights legislation gets called for a vote,” he added. “And every American who cares about the survival of our most cherished institutions should support the President’s call as well.”
In the editorial, Obama went on to underscore the importance of the right to vote, referencing the armed insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
He also mentioned the ongoing efforts to reduce and restrict voting freedoms, writing that “state legislators in 49 states have introduced more than 400 bills designed to suppress votes. Some of these bills we’ve seen before: legislation that would discourage voters, including racial minorities, low-income voters and young people from casting a ballot.”
He continued, “Others aim to treat certain polling locations differently, creating one set of rules for voters living in cities and another set for people living in more conservative, rural areas.”
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The 44th U.S. president also touched on the tactics being used to weaken voting rights, including “more aggressive attempts to gerrymander congressional districts” and Republican attempts “to assert power over” the ability to certify election results.
“These partisan attempts at voter nullification are unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times, and they represent a profound threat to the basic democratic principle that all votes should be counted fairly and objectively,” Obama wrote.
“But we can’t allow it to be used to block efforts to protect our democracy,” he added. “That’s why I fully support President Joe Biden’s call to modify Senate rules as necessary to make sure pending voting rights legislation gets called for a vote.”
Earlier this week,Bidenand Vice President Kamala Harrisdelivered public remarkson the importance of passing federal voting legislation to create national standards for election management, or reinstating a federal review of changes to state and local election laws.
Speaking to reporters from Air Force One, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Atlanta was a significant backdrop for Biden and Harris' speech, as it is one of19 statesto pass “voter suppression laws attacking the right to vote” in 2020.
source: people.com
