Biden condemns Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ in significant ballot rights speech in Philadelphia

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Biden condemns Trump's 'Big Lie' in major voting rights speech in Philadelphia

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President Joe Biden on Tuesday provided a significant speech on ballot rights in Philadelphia, knocking his predecessor’s “Big Lie” claim that the 2020 election was taken. 

“It’s clear, for those who challenge the results or question the integrity of the election, no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny or such high standards. The ‘Big Lie’ is just that: a big lie,” Biden stated at the National Constitution Center, simply actions far from Independence Hall.

The speech comes as his administration deals with growing pressure from civil liberties activists and other Democrats to do more to fight attacks on ballot rights, a problem that Biden called “the most significant test” of American democracy given that the Civil War. 

Biden blasted previous President Donald Trump’s declares that extensive citizen scams cost him the 2020 election, a claim that has actually pressed GOP leaders to enact a flurry of brand-new ballot laws in essential states, consisting of Florida and Georgia. Critics argue the brand-new laws are inequitable and limit access to the tally. 

The president straight knocked these efforts by GOP-controlled legislatures as a “Jim Crow assault” and compared them to habits seen in autocracies worldwide. 

“To me, this is simple. This is election subversion. It’s the most dangerous threat to voting in the integrity of free and fair elections in our history,” Biden stated. “They want the ability to reject the final count and ignore the will of the people if their preferred candidate loses.”

Protecting ballot rights

Biden pushed for the passage of federal ballot rights legislation throughout his remarks, stating that the battle to secure ballot rights starts with passing the For The People Act.  

“That bill would help end voter suppression in states, get dark money out of politics, give voice to people, create fair district maps and end partisan political gerrymandering,” Biden stated. 

He slammed Republicans for opposing the sweeping Democratic ballot rights and federal government principles costs, which stopped working to pass in the Senate last month after Republicans released the filibuster.

Biden likewise highlighted the significance of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would “restore and expand voting protections and prevent voter suppression.” He pressured Republican legislators to support such Democratic legislation that would secure ballot rights. 

“We’ll ask my Republican friends in Congress and states and cities and counties to stand up, for God’s sake, and help prevent this concerted effort to undermine our election and the sacred right to vote,” Biden stated. 

The president slammed the Supreme Court’s “harmful” choices that compromise the Voting Rights Act of 1965, keeping in mind that the court initially gutted a crucial arrangement of the act in 2013 and on July 1 it supported 2 Republican-backed Arizona ballot laws that Democrats state break the act. 

The court has actually likewise restricted the capability to “prove intentional racial discrimination,” according to a White House memo sent out prior to the speech, making it challenging for advocacy groups and the Department of Justice to fight limiting citizen laws.

Biden contacted Congress to fix the “damage done” by passing ballot rights legislation.

Preparing for the midterms

Biden alerted that the U.S. will “face another test in 2022” throughout the midterm elections, including that the country requires to get ready for citizen suppression and election subversion. 

“We have to prepare now. As I said time and again, no matter what, you can never stop the American people from voting. They will decide, and the power must always be with the people. That’s why just like we did in 2020, we have to prepare for 2022,” Biden stated. 

As of mid-June, a minimum of 17 states have actually enacted laws that limit access to ballot, with more being thought about, according to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law. 

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed a limiting election costs into law in March after it was gone by the state’s Republican-regulated legislature. The law needs citizens to offer recognition for mail-in tallies and forbids individuals from providing food and water to citizens waiting in line, punitive actions that critics state might damage turnout in minority neighborhoods. 

Biden’s administration has actually relied on the courts in action. The Department of Justice took legal action against the state of Georgia on June 25, arguing that the election costs infringed on the rights of Black Georgians. 

Passing brand-new legislation in Congress to secure ballot rights would likely need a modification to filibuster guidelines, specifically as Democrats hold a razor-thin bulk in the Senate. But Biden has actually backed reforming instead of removing the filibuster, making the future of brand-new ballot laws unsure. 

Looking beyond Washington

Now, with Democrats’ legal efforts stalled, the White House is starting to look beyond Washington for methods to fight the wave of brand-new ballot constraints. 

Biden has actually had a number of conferences at the White House with civil liberties groups, who pressed the administration to keep defending ballot rights in spite of resistance from Republicans. The groups have actually opposed the Republican-backed ballot constraints, which critics state are focused on Hispanic, Black and more youthful citizens. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, who has actually been entrusted to lead the administration’s efforts to secure ballot rights, likewise just recently revealed a brand-new $25 million financial investment by the Democratic National Committee to broaden its program that will assist increase citizen engagement in the upcoming midterm elections. 

During the very first couple of months of his presidency, Biden likewise signed an executive order directing firms to promote citizen gain access to. This consists of establishing much better approaches of dispersing voting details and increasing chances to take part in the electoral procedure, that includes citizens with unique requirements, such as service members, individuals with specials needs and tribal neighborhoods, to name a few.