Sam Levine of The Guardian reports:
In a very unusual play, senators Chuck Schumer i Mitch McConnell, the respective Democratic and Republican leaders, spoke at the first Senate hearing on a voting rights bill, which underscored how the fight for voting rights has exploded at the center of American politics.
As Senate leaders of their respective parties, both Schumer and McConnell rarely speak during hearings. They both delivered long opening speeches on Wednesday.
ABC News
(@ABC)Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: “If a political party believes that when you lose an election, the answer is not to win more votes, but to try to prevent the other party from voting, we have in our hands an existential threat to to democracy. “https://t.co/xY8G8YiI04 pic.twitter.com/qYSYlXcM9t
Schumer repeatedly referred to the fact that there are hundreds of bills pending in state legislatures that would restrict voting rights, saying they were “one of the biggest threats we have to modern democracy in America.”
“It simply came to our notice then. I would like to ask my fellow Republicans, why are you so afraid of democracy? Why, instead of trying to win voters over those you lost in the last election, do you try to prevent them from voting? ”. He said.
Marking several measures that make voting difficult, Schumer was especially angry at an Arizona measure that would force voters to get votes by email.
“How will the poor pay for a notary?” He said. “It’s one of the most despicable things I’ve seen in all my years.”
McConnell downplayed Democratic concerns about voter suppression as hyperbole. He said the law was not necessary, that it signaled high turnout in the 2020 elections and that the new federal law would cause chaos.
“States are not involved in any attempt to suppress voters. It is clear that it is an effort by a party to rewrite the rules of our political system, “he said.
But McConnell’s comments are downplayed by many members of his own party, who have openly said they are trying to prevent people from voting.
“Not everyone should vote” John Kavanagh, an Arizona Republican, told CNN earlier this month. David Ralston, the president of the Georgia House, said last year that more postal votes would be “devastating for Republicans.” Donald Trump also last year he dismissed efforts to facilitate the vote, saying, “You will never have a Republican elected in this country again.”