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Voting rights reform takes center stage

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he's willing to change Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he's willing to change Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation.

Voting rights laws have been changing state by state since the 2020 election. In some places, that’s meant new laws making it harder to vote.Now, Democrats in the Senate are pushing for legislation to set federal standards on voting.

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer committed to the idea of changing Senate rules – including the filibuster – in order to pass a set of voting rights legislation known as the Freedom to Vote Act which would allow 15 days of early voting for federal elections, make Election Day a public holiday, and expand the types of photo ID that are permissible at the polls. 

While all Senate Democrats have said they support the measure, the bill needs 60 votes to pass. 

We speak with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and a panel of experts on the state of voting rights legislation.

Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5

Arfie Ghedi