During a webinar hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and State Innovation Exchange (SIX) Action on Tuesday, Stacey Abrams praised Democrat efforts to block or undermine state-level election integrity bills.
Interviewed by Clinton buddy John Podesta, Abrams said Republican-backed legislation to make it harder to cheat in elections is something that "should terrify everyone" because the showdown over such laws "is a question between democracy and authoritarianism," a claim she says "is not an overblown notion."
Over 360 anti-voter bills have been introduced in state legislatures so far this year.
— State Innovation Exchange (SiX) (@stateinnovation) July 15, 2021
Join @AmProg and SiX Action for a discussion about what state leaders are doing to combat these attacks on our freedom to vote. https://t.co/tCFr8IjOYt
“Georgia is ground zero for this national assault on our right to vote," she added of the already-enacted voting law in her home state that spurred Texas and other states' legislatures to pursue similar actions. Among other concerns, requiring voters to provide identification and prove their eligibility has a "chilling effect" on voters, Abrams claimed.
When asked about President Biden's recent statement that there is an "unfolding assault taking place in America" that amounts to "an assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are as Americans," Abrams responded that Biden's portrayal "is not only accurate," but "it may understate the matter a bit."
Addressing Democrat state legislators such as the Texas fugitive delegation who fled their state — subsequently creating a COVID super spreader situation in Washington, D.C. — Abrams said "they're doing an amazing job" before suggesting their efforts might be unsuccessful but that "sometimes the best outcome is to lose really well."
Reinforcing the consensus view that Texas Democrats' publicity stunt will ultimately fail to stop the state's election integrity bill, Abrams called for a maximum pain campaign ahead of their impending defeat. “We may not stop this assault at the state level but we can make it so hard and so egregious that their victories become less and less," she said before revealing her strategy is to "just claw back as much as we can to keep good going until we can get the federal action we need to solve this problem once and for all.”
Abrams lamented the failed attempt at federal action in the form of the For the People Act which was defeated in the Senate after Democrats failed to secure enough support to overcome Republican opposition. She said the Senate filibuster "remains the highest hurdle" to Democrat efforts to take over and gut election integrity measures.
“We need whatever it takes to get these bills through," Abrams responded when asked about abolishing the filibuster, saying activists should focus on "getting the senate the power they need" to force election-takeover bills — like the For the People Act — through because they are "the foundation for every other change we want to see in this nation.”
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