WASHINGTON − On the heels of another state adopting what they call restrictive election changes, Democrats are introducing voting rights legislation Tuesday aimed at making it easier for voters to cast ballots, including same-day registration.
Democratic leaders said the Voter Empowerment Act of 2024 will draw attention to the increasing number of states adopting laws they say restrict voting rights. Democrats and voting rights activists had warned that some states would enact such laws after a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminated a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
“People were not sure that what we were saying held water. Now they know what we’ve been saying is very real,’’ South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat, said Monday in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY before he reintroduced the bill. “This is a good time for people to focus on this legislation. I’m not crazy by any means. I know full well the bill is not going to pass in the House. But it should be on the mind of everybody as to who is suppressing the vote. All these people who say they believe in democracy, who say they believe in the democratic form of government need to be called out.”