WASHINGTON – During a speech today marking the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre, President Joe Biden announced he was tapping Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the administration’s work on voting rights, including efforts to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had this reaction:
“This is an important and positive development. Vice President Harris is the most senior official to be given an assignment like this in decades. It’s urgent. Voter suppression bills are quickly becoming voter suppression laws. Now legislators have brazenly begun to pass measures that would give partisans the power to negate the will of voters. It’s a crisis in the making.
“In Vice President Harris, Biden has chosen the right person, at the right level, at the right time to build on the momentum for urgent federal action. Her leadership will be key to making the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act the law of the land."
The Brennan Center’s latest voting laws roundup found that as of May 14, at least 14 states enacted 22 new laws that restrict access to the vote, while another 61 bills with restrictive provisions are moving through 18 state legislatures.
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