Trump’s Blatantly False Claims Provide Cover for New State Voter Suppression Efforts – Wertheimer op-ed

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Enclosed for your information is a piece by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer titled “Trump’s Blatantly False Claims Provide Cover for New State Voter Suppression Efforts,” published here on Medium on January 15, 2021 and originally released in Wertheimer’s Political Report on January 14, 2021.

Read the full piece here or below.

Trump’s Blatantly False Claims Provide Cover for New State Voter Suppression Efforts
Fred Wertheimer | 1/15/2021 | Medium

There are two new Republican Members in the House — Rep. Lauren Boebert (CO) and Rep. Madison Cawthorn (NC) — who insist on being able to carry guns in the Capitol complex.

There is a new QAnon-enthralled Republican Member, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), who said “On January 21, 2021, I’ll be filing Articles of Impeachment against Joe Biden for abuse of power.”

The Capitol and surrounding areas will be filled with 20,000 National Guard soldiers for the Biden Inauguration. Soldiers are sleeping on the floors of the Capitol building for the first time since the Civil War.

In six days we will be rid of the worst, most dangerous, and most unhinged President in our nation’s history. But, that will not end the extraordinary damage Trump has done to the country.

This starts with the seditious invasion and desecration of the Capitol by an insurrectionist mob created and incited by President Trump, for which he was impeached yesterday.

Also at the top of the list is Trump’s grossly incompetent mishandling of the federal government’s response to the coronavirus, which has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the country. As President, Joe Biden will deal with the coronavirus and its aftermath as his top priority.

Among other fundamental problems Trump has caused is the grave damage he has done to our democracy and the legitimacy of our elections, Trump has conned tens of millions of Americans into believing, through his blatantly false claims and lies, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him through massive voter fraud.

Some Republican state officials already are using Trump’s Big Lie as cover to pursue new laws to make it harder to vote — in other words, new voter suppression laws.

That is why Congress must move quickly to enact H.R. 1, the For The People Act, and H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act.

H.R. 1 incorporates the comprehensive voting rights reform legislation that the late iconic Rep. John Lewis began introducing in 2012. H.R. 1 is ready to go to the floor now for a House vote. (H.R. 4 will take more time in Congress because of the need to build an evidentiary record to overcome the Shelby County Supreme Court decision.)

Hearings were held on H.R. 1 in the last Congress and the legislation passed by a 234–193 vote. H.R. 1 in this Congress is basically the same bill as in the last Congress and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has labeled H.R. 1 a top priority for quick action in 2021.

Congress must move H.R. 1 fast if its provisions to ensure every eligible voter can vote and to protect the integrity of our election process are to be in place for the 2022 elections.

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