Sen. King pushes filibuster reforms to protect voting rights, electoral process

[TexasTowelie]

WASHINGTON — Sen. Angus King is worried about the state of American democracy.

“We are in a moment when democracy is in danger, when autocracy is on the march around the world,” King said in a recent telephone interview from the Capitol as he negotiated with his colleagues to protect voting rights and the impartiality of elections. “Our system is an anomaly in human history – the norm is authoritarians, kings and pharaohs and we are seeing (democracy) backsliding into authoritarianism before our eyes.

“The idea that it can’t happen here – that’s just not so, and that’s just what’s worrying me,” King added. “We have a lot of people who are just not committed to the idea of democracy.”

At issue is a bill – currently called the Freedom to Vote Act – that would set nationwide standards for mail-in and early voting; make Election Day a national holiday; extend financial reporting requirements for certain organizations; create a standard for states that require identification to vote; restore voting rights to felons on their release; require that voting machines have paper trails and protect local elections officials from being removed for partisan reasons. (Almost all of these measures are already in place in Maine and so would have little effect here.)

King said the protections the bill would provide for American democracy are so critical he is ready to support something he’s long opposed: reforming the filibuster so the measure can’t be blocked by the Republican minority in the U.S. Senate.

Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/12/26/king-pushes-filibuster-reforms-to-protect-voting-rights-electoral-process/