The Case for Voting Rights Legislation
Senators Suggest State-Level Voter Suppression Is No Big Deal
Recent responses to questions about voter suppression point to the willful intent behind restraining non-White voices
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There are two types of centrists in U.S. politics. Some would convincingly argue poor White people are being left behind along with Black people and people of color and they require uplifting along with other groups — as in West Virginia with a whopping 16% poverty rate. Then there are others that would ignore those constituents to appease the White power structures that keep those people poor in an attempt to achieve the ever-elusive bipartisanship with those who want to maintain White supremacy.
It’s clear where Sen. Joe Manchin falls among the two.
Recently, Latino Rebels’ Capitol reporter Pablo Manríquez questioned Manchin about people saying he’s making it so that voters of color are not going to be able to vote in the next election. Manchin responded by saying: “The government will stand behind them to make sure they have a right to vote… We act like we’re going to obstruct people from voting. That’s not going to happen.”
It’s easy to see the point the senator was trying to make. However, in a seemingly purposeful act, his statement failed to address the many Republican-led states that have taken actions to suppress the vote of non-White groups. It’s less coincidental every day the political right takes such measures. People see what they’re doing. After the 2020 elections, when the country saw the largest voter turnout in U.S. history, it cost Republicans the type of control over the government they have been salivating over for decades. They are keenly aware that their losses were due to massive numbers of non-White voters showing up at the ballot box.
As long as there are no federal laws protecting voting rights, people like Manchin seem content with letting states…
