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A 'moral' fight: Biden to urge Americans to challenge efforts to restrict voting rights

Michael Collins, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday to warn Americans that the constitutional right to vote is under assault and call on them to fight efforts in Republican-led states to pass laws that restrict voting access.

In a speech the White House said Biden himself wanted to deliver, the president will make “the moral case” for why denying the right to vote is a form of suppression and silencing American voices, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Biden also will emphasize his commitment to using every tool at his disposal to protect Americans against voter suppression laws and stress the need to work with civil rights organizations to build a voter education system to overcome “the worst challenge to our democracy since the Civil War,” Psaki said.

“He is going to be calling on Americans to make sure they are informed, make sure they are informing their neighbors, and make sure they are fighting efforts to pass restrictive laws in their states,” she said.

‘This is not a great outcome’: Supreme Court ruling brings fear of explosion in voting restrictions

President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden

Biden’s remarks come as at least 14 states have enacted laws that restrict voting access following last year’s presidential election and as former President Donald Trump continues to spread baseless claims that his loss to Biden was the result of widespread voter fraud.

In Pennsylvania, where Biden eked out a narrow victory over Trump, Republican state Rep. Doug Mastriano, a Trump ally, is trying to launch a review of the state’s presidential election results similar to what is under way in Arizona.

In Congress, sweeping legislation that Democrats argue would make it easier for people to vote and register to vote has stalled in the Senate as a result of a Republican filibuster. And earlier this month, the Supreme Court upheld an Arizona law that limits how absentee ballots may be returned, a ruling that critics asserted would make it more difficult for minorities to challenge laws they believe are discriminatory.

‘So what’s next?’: After voting rights loss, Democrats and allies seek alternatives

Biden has said that voting rights will be a priority for his administration and has tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with leading the administration’s efforts to protect ballot access.

Last week, Harris announced a $25 million expansion of the Democratic National Committee’s “I Will Vote” initiative to bolster voter education, voter protection, targeted voter registration and deployment of new technology to increase voter access.

Biden wants Americans to know their rights and understand the efforts to silence them – and not just in the next presidential election, Psaki said.

“He wants people across the country to not just look ahead to 2024, but be prepared and eyes wide open about 2022,” she said.

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Voting rights: Biden to warn that right to vote is under assault

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