Category Archives: US voting rights

US ‘concerned’ Russia preparing for an invasion in Ukraine – live

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The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing with reporters, and she opened her remarks with an important announcement about Joe Biden’s schedule.

The president will hold a formal press conference next Wednesday at 4pm, as he marks one year in office.

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Kyrsten Sinema blocks filibuster reform as Biden continues ‘fight’ for voting rights – video

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US president Joe Biden said he was not sure if his administration could push voting rights legislation through Congress, but he would continue fighting to change the law. ‘I don't know if we can get it done,' he said to reporters. ‘But I know one thing, as long as I have a breath in me … I am going to be fighting to change the way these legislatures are moving.' Earlier, Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema reaffirmed she would not support any change to the filibuster rules, effectively killing her party’s hope of passing the most sweeping voting rights protections in a generation.

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Biden urges Senate to eliminate filibuster in voting rights pitch: ‘I’m tired of being quiet’ – as it happened

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The Republican who memorably resisted Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his election defeat in Georgia has said he will run for re-election on a platform of “integrity and truth”, against an opponent who as a churchman “should know better” than to advance the former president’s lies.

Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, became a household name after he turned down Trump’s demand that he “find 11,780 votes” in order to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the southern state. It was the first victory by a Democrat in a presidential race in Georgia since 1992.

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Democrats look to renew push for voting rights protections bill – live

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Joe Biden spoke today to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, as the country continues to suffer through a bloody civil war that has attracted international condemnation for alleged war crimes.

“President Biden commended Prime Minister Abiy on the recent release of several political prisoners, and the two leaders discussed ways to accelerate dialogue toward a negotiated ceasefire, the urgency of improving humanitarian access across Ethiopia, and the need to address the human rights concerns of all affected Ethiopians, including concerns about detentions of Ethiopians under the state of emergency,” the White House said in a readout of the call.

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Trump acolytes vie for key election oversight posts in US midterms

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Swing state races for governor and secretary of state are the most consequential midterm contests

When Americans go to the polls in the 2022 midterms, the most important elections won’t be for office in Washington. The most high-stakes races will be statewide contests, in some cases for long overlooked offices, that have profound consequences for the future of free and fair elections in America.

The races for governor and secretary of state, the chief election official in many places, will determine which officials have control over setting election rules and the post-election certification process.

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Republicans are shamelessly working to subvert democracy. Are Democrats paying attention?

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Voting rights activists say the country has not fully awakened to the threat

A dry run. A dress rehearsal. A practice coup. As the first anniversary of the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol approaches, there is no shortage of warnings about the danger of a repeat by Republicans.

But even as Donald Trump loyalists lay siege to democracy with voting restrictions and attempts to take over the running of elections, there are fears that Democrats in Washington have not fully woken up to the threat.

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‘We need him to deliver’: Biden faces wrath of disappointed supporters

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The US president hopes to be a transformational figure like FDR but inaction on voting rights, the climate crisis and social policy has fuelled frustration

When Joe Biden huddled with a group of historians in March, the conversation revolved around thinking big like one of his predecessors, Franklin Roosevelt, architect of the New Deal. Biden, it seemed, wanted to join him in the first rank of transformational US presidents.

Six months later, a very different gathering took place this week outside the White House gates. Five young climate activists, holding signs and sitting on folding chairs, began an indefinite hunger strike. It was a visceral expression of disgust at what they see as Biden’s willingness to think small and break his promises.

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Biden visits home town of Scranton to pitch huge investment agenda – as it happened

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Climate activists have gathered on Capitol Hill to demand that Democrats’ reconciliation package effectively address the climate crisis.

One protester with Greenpeace carried cutouts of Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and moderate Democratic senator Joe Manchin, portraying Schumer as Manchin’s puppet.

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‘They don’t include Native voices’: tribes fight to ensure their votes count

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As the Native American population grows to the largest in modern history, groups say it’s vital that they organize to make sure they’re not left out of the redistricting process

In a small unadorned conference room in the North Dakota state capitol, Collette Brown, a representative for the Spirit Lake Nation, stood up on 26 August to testify on behalf of the 7,559 members of her federally recognized tribe.

Speaking to a largely white, male Republican committee of lawmakers, she explained what Native American communities stand to lose with redistricting if the legislature decides to draw legislative boundaries that split Native American communities or create areas that have at-large representation, instead of single-member districts.

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Texas legislature gives final approval to sweeping voting restrictions bill

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Bill, nearly identical to a measure that passed last week, gives poll watchers more power and prohibits 24-hour and drive-thru voting

The Texas legislature gave its final approval on Tuesday to a new bill that would impose substantial new restrictions on voting access in the state.

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Republican election audits have led to voting system breaches, experts say

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MyPillow chief gave out election software at South Dakota event derived from Republican challenges in Colorado and Michigan

Republican efforts to question Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020 have led to voting system breaches experts say pose a risk to future elections.

Copies of Dominion Voting Systems softwares used for designing ballots, configuring voting machines and tallying results were distributed at an event this month in South Dakota organized by the MyPillow chief executive, Mike Lindell, a Trump ally who has made unsubstantiated claims about last year’s election.

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US House passes voting rights bill, restoring critical provision of landmark law

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Bill that requires places with history of discrimination to be under federal supervision passes 219-212 – but could fail in the Senate

The US House of Representatives has passed an update to the 1965 Voting Rights Act, restoring a critical provision of the landmark civil rights law that requires places with a history of voting discrimination to be under federal supervision.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed 219-212 on a party-line vote.

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Sheila Jackson Lee is third Black lawmaker to be arrested during voting rights protests

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Congress members Joyce Beatty and Hank Johnson were previously arrested for participating in separate demonstrations

Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democratic representative of Texas, was arrested in Washington DC on Thursday while protesting lawmakers’ delay in passing legislation to protect voting rights, becoming the third member of the Congressional Black Caucus to be arrested for civil disobedience in recent weeks.

Related: Voting curbs enacted in 18 US states this year despite none finding widespread fraud

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US democracy faces a momentous threat says Joe Biden – but is he up for the fight?

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The president’s speech in Philadelphia decried Republicans’ assault on voting rights but critics say it offered few answers, especially on Senate rules that let the minority to block reform

Few in the audience applauding Joe Biden could have questioned the sincerity of his warning about a momentous threat to American democracy.

But they may have walked away with lingering doubts about his ability to meet the moment or answer fears that even the office of the presidency will be found politically impotent in the face of the challenge.

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Arizona counties find fewer than 200 possible voter fraud cases among 3m 2020 ballots

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Findings undermine Trump’s claims after Biden beat him by more than 10,000 votes in state

Arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3m ballots cast in last year’s presidential election, undercutting Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a disputed ballot review in the state’s most populous county.

The 182 cases identified by the Associated Press represent instances where problems were clear enough that officials referred them for further review. So far, only four cases have led to charges, including those identified in a separate state investigation. No one has been convicted. No vote was counted twice.

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Joyce Beatty arrested during voting rights protest at US Capitol – video

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Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the US Capitol on Thursday. Beatty was participating in a protest calling for the Senate to pass a sweeping election reform bill. The bill passed the House in March but is being held up in the Senate because of a Republican filibuster. Beatty and others were arrested by Capitol police for 'demonstrating in a prohibited area on Capitol grounds', said police

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Democratic congresswoman arrested during voting rights protest at Capitol

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Joyce Beatty, chair of Congressional Black Caucus, was calling on the Senate to pass a key election reform bill

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat of Ohio, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the Capitol this afternoon.

Beatty, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, shared a photo on Twitter of US Capitol police (USCP) officers putting a zip-tie on her and escorting her out of the building.

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Biden condemns Trump’s claim of voter fraud: ‘The big lie is just that, a big lie’ – live

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  • President deflects questions over the filibuster in voting rights speech
  • Biden: ‘The 21st century Jim Crow assault is real. It’s unrelenting’
  • Lawmakers arrive in DC to call for legislation to strengthen voting rights
  • Explainer: why did Democratic lawmakers flee Texas?

Texas Democratic lawmakers have fled their state in a desperate attempt to stop the Republican-run legislature from passing laws they say will suppress the vote of people of color.

The extreme move – which saw dozens of Democrats leave via planes and head to Washington DC – is the latest and wildest escalation in a fight over voting rights in the state and in America more broadly.

Related: Why did Democratic lawmakers flee Texas over voter restrictions?

As fires propagate throughout the US west on the heels of record heatwaves, experts are warning that the region is caught in a vicious feedback cycle of extreme heat, drought and fire, all amplified by the climate crisis.

Firefighters are battling blazes from Arizona to Washington state that are burning with a worrying ferocity, while officials say California is already set to outpace last year’s record-breaking fire season.

Related: American west stuck in cycle of ‘heat, drought and fire’, experts warn

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‘Have you no shame?’: Biden decries Republican attacks on voting rights

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President condemns Trump’s ‘big lie’ about a stolen election but fails to mention filibuster in 20-minute Philadelphia speech

Joe Biden has made an impassioned attack on racist voting laws sweeping America, warning that “the 21st-century Jim Crow assault is real” and demanding of Republicans: “Have you no shame?”

Related: Biden defends voting rights – but no word on ending the filibuster

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