The office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a memo that Democrats are pushing “the left’s Big Lie,” accusing them of orchestrating “fake hysteria” over voting rights.
The memo says Democrats will “try to use fake hysteria to break the Senate and silence millions of Americans’ voices so they can take over elections and ram through their radical agenda,†a likely reference to attempts to reform the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.
“Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans have repeatedly stood up to the left and their Big Lie that there is some evil anti-voting conspiracy sweeping America,†the memo added.
Last week Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressed skepticism toward McConnell’s openness to discussing changes to election law as Democrats work to advance significant voting rights legislation in the Senate.
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“I think this is a fake. I think it’s a way to try and get the two senators that we have who are not on board to go for something that won’t change the horrible, voracious change in the balance of power that will allow elections to slam things in the directions of Republicans in a dramatic way, in an unfair way, in an un- — small “D†— democratic way,†Schumer said.
McConnell has said that it is “worth discussing†changes to the Electoral Count Act, a move many Republicans have supported. Democrats have said that simply changing the 1887 law is insufficient and that the focus should be on broader election reform.
Schumer plans to force a rules change by January 17 if Republicans block the For the People Act and Freedom to Vote Act.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
