Sen. Manchin Apparently Forgot That He Played A Key Role In Killing Legislation To Protect Voting Rights

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Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has demonstrated that we need a new word for “chutzpah.”

Because “chutzpah” does not even begin to capture the extent of Senator Manchin’s gall in expressing his “concerns” during a Senate hearing last week that there is “a lot of work to do” to ensure voting rights access and that he is “particularly concerned” about the erosion of the Voting Rights Act.

On January 19, Senator Manchin cast a pivotal vote to kill the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act by voting against a modification of the Senate filibuster rules that would have allowed the Act to pass by majority vote.

The legislation Manchin voted to kill would have protected the voting rights access that Manchin now professes to be worried about.

It would have overridden the state voter suppression laws enacted in 2021 by GOP-controlled legislatures. And, it would have prevented the erosion of the Voting Rights Act about which Manchin now professes to be “particularly concerned.”

Senator Manchin’s vote in January to kill legislation to protect voting rights and to repair the Voting Rights Act is one key reason why potentially millions of eligible citizens will lose their ability to vote in the 2022 elections.

Senator Manchin needs to look in the mirror if he wants to see someone responsible for placing our nation’s voting rights in peril and our democracy in danger.

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