Stacey Abrams Gives America A Dose Optimism On Voting Rights Bills

Stacey Abrams Expresses optimism on voting rights

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Stacey Abrams expressed optimism that the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act will pass.

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When asked by Rachel Maddow if she thought that progress was being made on voting rights legislation, Abrams answered:

I actually do feel we are making progress and, sadly, because of the dramatization of our politics we have come to expect these high moments of achievement but the work is hard and plodding and it takes time.

What we have watched over the last ten months on voting rights has been a shift among those who were not standing with us who are now standing and leading on the issue. We have seen changes made in the language to protect our voters, protect our election workers, protect our democracy. And we are continuing to see progress. I am very bullish on the likelihood that the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will pass because we know that in lieu of their passage what we saw happen across the states this year is going to be redoubled starting in January. When new state legislatures come back and feel the fervor of the insurrection filling their veins again they’ll continue to pass voter suppression legislation and congress especially the U.S. Senate has to understand that action is vital.

We’re seeing that play out with the gerrymandering. We’re seeing it play out in how election workers are under attack. We are seeing it play out in the conversations about whether we have a real democracy. I have faith in our leaders because I have faith in our people. Americans will not fall for the stand — stand for the fall of our nation and will continue to lift our voices. More importantly, we have 50 senators saying time and again they’ll put patriotism above partisanship. My hope is they’ll be joined and if they aren’t joined at least we’ll see action taken because whether or not people want it done we know we need action to be taken.

Behind The Political Drama, There Is Progress On Voting Rights

There is an instant gratification political culture in our country that immediately turns sour and negative when people don’t get what they want right now. On the left, for example, it is a demand that Trump is prosecuted yesterday, and massive voting rights bills get quickly passed.

However, in each of the examples above, doing the job right takes patience and time, One of the reasons why the Trump presidency was such a disaster for the country was that nothing was thought through, and everything in the previous administration was impulsively rushed based on the whims of one man.

The civil rights struggle in the 20th Century went on for decades before the Voting Rights Act was passed.

Abrams was correct. It is slow and hard work to fight for voting rights, and her optimism is well-founded. Senate Democrats are all on board. All they need now is the mechanism to pass this vital legislation with 50 votes plus VP Harris,

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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