John Lewis funeral: Barack Obama calls for voting reform and filibuster’s end in rousing eulogy for civil rights hero

The Independent
·1 min read

Barack Obama supports ending the Senate's filibuster rule if that's what it takes to pass voting rights legislation, the former US president indicated during his eulogy for the late Congressman John Lewis on Thursday.

At his speech in Atlanta on Thursday, Mr Obama, the first black president in US history, advocated for several reforms to make it easier for Americans to vote, including:

  • making Election Day a federal holiday;

  • restoring voting rights to former prison inmates;

  • automatically registering people to vote when they turn 18 years old; and

  • full enfranchisement for the citizens of Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, which currently lack statehood and thus representation in Congress.

"If all of this takes eliminating the filibuster, another Jim Crowe relic, in order to secure the god given rights of every American, then that's what we should do," Mr Obama said.

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