A group of Senate democrats unveiled Tuesday new legislation to expand voting in federal elections following previous republican dismissal.
The new Freedom to Vote Act was introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar with co-sponsors including Sens. Joe Manchin, Tim Kaine, Jon Tester and Raphael Warnock, Just the News reports.
The move comes after Senate republicans blocked the previous For the People Act in June.
We reached agreement on the Freedom to Vote Act w/ Sens Schumer,Kaine,King,Manchin, Merkley,Padilla,Tester& Warnock to strengthen our democracy. It’s a really good bill! It stops the chaos by setting basic national voting standards, anti-gerrymandering protections & Disclose Act.
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) September 14, 2021
Joe Biden celebrated the proposed legislation on Twitter.
“I strongly support The Freedom to Vote Act and thank the eight Senators who came together to draft it,” he said. “Let’s get this passed.”
The new bill keeps significant parts of the For the People Act, including mandating national minimum standards for early voting and mail-in voting, establishing Election Day as a national holiday, and creating new disclosure requirements for “dark money” groups that are not now required to disclose their donors.
Per the Washington Post:
The new legislation also adds some new elements, including provisions meant to thwart state-level efforts in GOP-controlled states that some are warning could allow officials to override election results. Sections aimed at so-called election subversion would create federal protections for elections officials and create standards for the [handling] of election equipment and records that could forestall partisan audits such as the review of the 2020 presidential election results ordered by the Arizona Senate.