Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock says there is nothing more important than getting voting rights done this Congress.
In an interview with Audacy's Maria Boynton, Senator Warnock said, "We argue about a whole range of issues, but democracy is the framework in which these debates take place and it's our democracy that's in peril right now."
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Referencing a Republican-led effort to allow state takeover of election boards in Georgia, Warnock said to allow such would "turn our democracy upside down."
Georgia's new election law passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly would allow the removal of county elections boards. At the forefront of the takeover rule is Fulton County, which includes the city of Atlanta, where several vote recounts have re-confirmed President Joe Biden's win over former President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. Yet, according to Warnock, "they continue to follow the big lie, that the election was stolen."
"This is a defining moment," Warnock added. "We've seen moments like this before. In 1965 we had to pass the Voting Rights Act. If that had not happened, Atlanta as we know it would not exist. You would not have Maynard Jackson and the long legacy of electoral power and strength in that community. You would not have people like me serving in the Senate. We would be looking at a very different country. And there are some folk who are trying to take us back. We can't go back."
Listen to the full interview below
Warnock said Congress should be making voting easier, not harder -- which is one of the main reasons he is sponsoring the For the People Act.
"The act provides a baseline and guardrails for federal elections. It says to the states, you run your own elections but there are basic things that you have to do to provide access to every eligible American," he explained. "It ensures that people in Georgia and all across the county will have early voting days, the ability to vote by mail without creating all kinds of unnecessary barriers... it ensures that there are drop boxes available."
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Warnock said it's also pertinent that Congress pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
"That is a tool among other things that allows us to look at the history of voter discrimination in a state and then based on that history, be able to provide certain protections," he said.
The Deomcratic Senator said it is Congress' job to provide basic federal guidelines for elections, to make sure every American has access.
"We've seen some 400 voter suppression bills introduced in states all across the country... the only fix for this kind of thing is federal legislation. We can't count on the courts alone to fix it," he said. "Voting rights is about the democracy itself. And if we fail to protect the democracy, we in the Congress have failed to do our job."
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