'Power grab' or expanding democracy? Candidates back Election Day holiday
The growing numbers of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are setting their sights on expanding voter participation, over objections from Republicans.
“Our campaign is about creating a vibrant democracy with the highest voter turnout of any major country on earth,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said in a video released Tuesday announcing his 2020 candidacy,“while we end voter suppression, Citizens United and outrageous levels of gerrymandering.”
In 2014, Sanders introduced legislation to make Election Day a national holiday, meant to increase voter turnout, and he voiced support for H.R. 1, the first bill passed this year by the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, which would do the same.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., mocked that proposal, although 22 states, including Kentucky, already mandate paid time off to vote on Election Day.
“Just what America needs, another paid holiday and a bunch of government workers being paid to go out and work ... [on Democratic] campaigns,” McConnell said in a Jan. 29 speech on the Senate floor. “This is the Democrat plan to restore democracy? ... A power grab.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., took issue with McConnell’s characterization.
Voting isn’t a “power grab”. It’s democracy, and it’s literally the entire point of our representative government.
And by the way: Not only should Election Day be a federal holiday, we need automatic voter registration and universal mail voting, too. https://t.co/jrJNM7Djgo— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 30, 2019
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has framed the issue in terms of countering what she claims is a Republican campaign of voter suppression.
There is no question that Election Day should be a national holiday. pic.twitter.com/VX43cmVaaA
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 19, 2019
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., agrees that boosting voter participation is a top priority.
America has a troubled history of voter suppression. It's time to reverse course. Here's what we should be fighting for. #GiveUsTheBallot pic.twitter.com/FSAWXPpZpy
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 17, 2017
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is also on board with automatic voter registration.
We need more participation in our democracy, not less. That’s why I want to pass a bill to automatically register every eligible person to vote when they turn 18. pic.twitter.com/FBTBhtlZeR
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 19, 2019
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 61.4 percent of eligible adults voted in the 2016 presidential election, down slightly from the 63.6 percent who voted in 2008. While 65.3 percent of eligible white Americans voted in 2016, just 59.6 percent of African-Americans, 49.3 percent of Asian-Americans and 47.6 percent of Hispanic-Americans did.
While some states have passed measures in recent years to ease voter registration and expand early voting, others have moved to impose restrictions, such as strict voter I.D. laws, which are almost invariably backed by Republicans, according to a November report published in the New York Times.
_____
Read more from Yahoo News:
Ann Coulter: ‘Lunatic’ Trump could be challenged in 2020 — from the right
As concerns grow about faltering U.S. support for UAE, China steps in to fill the void
Habitat for sale: An oil and gas group calls the tune at the Interior Department
Crackdown on opioids has its own victims: People who need them to live
As 5G war with China heats up, could a Cold War-inspired plan be the solution?