Status: 07/14/2021 12:28 a.m.
Fewer postal votes, stricter ID checks: In several US states, the Republicans want to reform the electoral law after the defeat of ex-President Trump. His successor Biden speaks of a historical danger.
US President Joe Biden has accused the opposition Republicans of an unprecedented attack on democracy in the dispute over electoral reforms. “This is the most dangerous threat to voting and the integrity of free and fair elections in our history,” said Biden. The Conservatives would “undermine the elections”. “We are facing the greatest challenge to our democracy since the American Civil War.” Addressing the Republicans, he asked, “Aren’t you ashamed?”
Ex-President Donald Trump’s Republicans have either decided to tighten the electoral law or are planning reforms in a number of states they control. Among other things, they restrict postal votes and tighten the requirement for identification when voting. The conservatives justify this with the alleged susceptibility to fraud in the elections – an echo of Trump’s often refuted accusations of fraud with regard to the presidential election on November 3rd.
Should voting be made more difficult for minorities?
The Democrats accuse the Republicans of actually trying to make voting more difficult for minorities such as African Americans. These usually vote mostly for Democrats.
“This year alone, 17 states passed 28 new laws that make it more difficult for Americans to vote,” said Biden in his speech in Philadelphia, where the US Constitution was signed in 1787. “They want to make it so difficult and arduous that people no longer vote.” Biden accused the Republicans not only of making voting more difficult, but also of wanting to increase their influence in the counting of the ballot papers.
Department of Justice sues southern Georgia
In his militant speech, the president announced that his government and his Democratic Party would firmly oppose the Republicans’ actions. He referred, among other things, to a lawsuit by the Department of Justice against a tightening of the electoral law decided in the southern state of Georgia.
Plans for a similar reform are currently causing bitter controversy in conservative Texas. Regional Democrats left the state on Monday to prevent a vote on the reform by failing to get the necessary quorum.
The Democrats want to put a stop to Republican action at the state level through federal law protecting the right to vote. The project initially failed in June due to resistance from the Republicans in the Senate. The Democrats only have a wafer-thin majority in the House of Lords and need the votes of at least ten Republican senators for procedural votes. Biden now called for Congress to pass the law.
“You acknowledge the result, you follow the constitution”
In his speech, the President also attacked Trump, who still does not acknowledge his November 3 election defeat and spreads the conspiracy theory that he had been deprived of a second term through massive electoral fraud. “The big lie is just that: a big lie,” said Biden, without naming his predecessor.
“If you lose in America, you recognize the result, you follow the constitution,” said Biden. “You try again. You don’t call facts fake.” Those who act differently are not “statesmanlike” but “selfish,” said Biden.