On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the DNC is spending $25 million for their I Will Vote Initiative, which will handle "voter education, voter protection, targeted voter registration, and technology to make voting more accessible." In her remarks, the vice president also warned about states which "will make it harder for Americans to vote" through election integrity laws.
NEW: We’re proud to announce we’re expanding our I Will Vote initiative. This $25 million investment will educate, register, turn out voters to the polls—and more. We are fighting tooth and nail to protect the right to vote and stop Republican lawmakers’ assault on our democracy.
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) July 8, 2021
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison also went after Republicans in his remarks on Thursday.
"Republicans know that their policies are unpopular — and that the only way for them to hold on to power is to attack the constitutional right to vote, held by the people they swore to serve. That’s why the Republican Party has made outrageous efforts to keep people from voting. But all across the country — from Democratic state legislators in Texas to the DNC’s recent case before the Supreme Court — Democrats have shown we are fighters and we will not give up our right to vote. I’ve said time and again that the ‘D’ in Democrat stands for deliver, and today we are delivering innovative and historic resources to protect this fundamental part of our democracy," he said.
Getting the For the People Act passed, which would have resulted in the federal takeover of elections, was one of the many projects President Joe Biden had handed Harris. It looks as if it's one more project where the Vice President has spectacularly failed. The bill failed in the Senate last month, as Reagan reported, with no Republicans voting in favor.
Other media took notice of the problems the administration has had with these efforts.
Jonathan Lemire and Ashraf Khalil's headline for AP read "Amid growing frustration, White House pushes voting rights." The piece included comments from anonymous White House officials with regards to word that Biden may be making a speech next week about voting.
Also from the piece:
So far, a major speech has not happened and a trip has not occurred, leading to rising frustration from those in his own party who view the GOP crackdown on voting rights as an existential threat to both Democrats and democracy.
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Democrats have grown nervous that the new laws could suppress turnout for next year’s midterm elections when the party is trying to hold on to very narrow margins in both chambers of Congress.
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But some Democrats and voting rights activists believe that the White House did not start nearly soon enough. A number on the left have grown frustrated, including Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who declared in a recent interview that “the president needs to lead out front and be very vocal on this issue.”
Proud to announce @TheDemocrats are launching a first-of-its-kind, party-wide effort to fight to protect the fundamental right to vote. Watch live. https://t.co/Wo5I5p8krw
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 8, 2021
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