Voting

GOP warns HR 1 could be 'absolutely devastating for Republicans.  In the aftermath of the GOP's assault on the integrity of the 2020 presidential election and amid a torrent of Republican measures aimed at restricting voting rights in the name of security, Democrats are pushing for a far-reaching solution to counter attempts at narrowing access to the ballot box.  H.R. 1, known as the For the People Act, seeks to abolish hurdles to voting, reform the role of money in politics and tighten federal ethics rules. Among the key tenets of the bill to overhaul the nation's election system: allowing for no-excuse mail voting, at least 15 days of early voting, automatic voter registration and restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences.  Democrats' comprehensive bill passed the House -- for the second time -- nearly along party lines earlier this month and was introduced in the Senate this week. But it faces steep opposition from the GOP over its potential implications for future elections, including the 2022 midterms, with some Republicans openly fretting that broader access to voting will harm the party's chances.   Republicans claim H.R. 1 represents a Democratic "power grab" that could tilt elections in their favor for years to come.  Other Republicans condemn the bill as a naked federal overreach of states' rights, saying the legislation will usurp the decentralized electoral system in favor of a nationalized, one-size-fits-all approach.  And some Republican lawmakers, officials and strategists go even further, signaling the GOP's opposition to such extensive electoral reforms is based on the fear it will cause them to lose elections.  Of course, Republicans will never admit they lose elections because their policies and their actions fail to attract a majority of voters.  In the 2020 Election which Republicans claim was stolen, the Republican Party did not even have a platform and their Presidential candidate, Donald Trump never said a single word about his plans for a second term.  After more than a decade of Republicans scaling back voting access, the latest push comes after former President Donald Trump and his allies spent months seeding distrust in the electoral system based on fabricated claims of a "stolen" election because they faialed to admit to running a crappy campaign.  Republican state lawmakers, many who peddled Trump's baseless allegations of widespread fraud, are now leaning into what they cast as a lack of confidence in the democratic process to justify their election-related offensive. Republican state lawmakers across 43 states have advanced at least 250 bills so far aimed at limiting absentee and early voting and implementing stricter voter ID laws.  Republicans need to get their act together and learn to listen to the voters.  For too long the Republican political methodology was to dictate what Republican voters are SUPPOSED to want and ignore what voters say they really want.  As much as Republicans never want to admit fault, they only have themselves to blame for the 2020 election losses and making it harder for people to vote turned out actually to be a losing tactic...Look at the Georgia Senate runoff race for proof of that thinking.  The more Republicans acted to restrict voting access the greater the efforts of Democrats and Independents to make it to the polls and throw out two sitting Republican Senators.