On August 23, 2021, we posted a writeup under the heading “FEDERAL: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (HR) BILL 4, THE JOHN R. LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ADVANCEMENT ACT OF 2021, INTRODUCED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AGAIN!”
Not to repeat the entire gist of the writeup or HR. 4, it reported a new effort by the Democrats to “federalize” the elections’ process in all of the states. Go read for yourself!
Well, the news today, is that S.4., the Senate companion bill to HR. 4, failed to get a sufficient number of votes to stop debate and send it to the floor of the Senate for final debate and passage with just a majority of votes. The vote count to “invoke cloture” and end debate was 50-49. Hip! Hip! Hurray! This bill is considered “filibustered” because it did not get the requisite 60 votes to “invoke cloture.”
The HR.4 and S.4 bills are considered replacements for the earlier HR.1 and S.4, “For the People Act” bills. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted with the Democrats to invoke cloture on S.4; being the first Republican senator to do so. She is quoted as having said –
“Let’s give ourselves the space to work across the aisle,” she said. “Our goal should be to avoid a partisan bill, not to take failing votes over and over.”
(Samuel Chamberlain, Senate GOP blocks federal election law debate for fourth time this year, November 4, 2021.) Senator Rounds (R-SD) did not vote at all; but both Senators Tillis and Burr voted “nay” ON the motion to invoke cloture.
But, get this, according to the New York Post:
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), initially voted “yea,” but changed his vote to “nay” in order to bring the motion forward again at a later date.”
(Id.)
Senator McConnell (R-KY) stated –
“This has become an almost-weekly routine: My friends on the other side trying to give Washington unprecedented power over how Americans vote,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in brief remarks shortly before the vote. “We don’t have an NDAA [annual defense bill] or an appropriations process, but we always have time for these stunts.”
(Id.)
Unfortunately, these efforts to federalize elections are not over!
Remember back on September 18, 2021, we posted this: FEDERAL: WHAT FRESH NEW HELL IS THIS? ANOTHER DEMOCRAT ATTEMPT TO FEDERALIZE ELECTIONS!
In this Blog post, we introduced readers to Senate bill 2747, “The Freedom to Vote Act”, a “lite” version of HR 1/S.1. Senate bill 2747 offers the usual claptrap of wrongdoings in elections that must be corrected by Congress’ plenary powers to regulate the “time, manner, and place” of elections. As we wrote then, S. 2747 is just the latest attempt to repackage H.1./S.1. and other previously introduced election bills in order to federalize the elections’ process.
Given that Senator Schumer will bring up S. 4 for another vote in the future and that S. 2747 is still pending a vote, we will have to revisit this issue again and again! The Democrats never give up! Neither should we!
Resistance is never futile!
I hope this is of value!
Demetria Carter