- Democrats are pushing for a voting rights bill to standardize election law and expand voter access.
- During an Arizona rally, Donald Trump said the bill will "erase American votes with illegal votes."
- The bill passed the House but is unlikely to pass in the Senate without changes to filibuster rules.
During a rally on Saturday in Florence, Arizona, former President Donald Trump said no Republican will ever get elected if Senate Democrats pass their voting rights bill, which seeks to standardize voting election laws across the country and expand voting access.
"Their scheme has always been to erase American votes with illegal votes and now they are doing so openly," Trump said. "Their legislation is not a voting rights bill. It's a voting fraud bill."
The former president was referring to the "Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act," a combination of two separate voting rights bills that were rolled into one during their passage in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Under the bill, several requirements related to election administration, redistricting, and campaign finance would be instated, including:
- Declaring Election Day as a federal holiday
- Restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated people convicted of felonies
- Prohibiting partisan gerrymandering by requiring states to use criteria when drawing new congressional districts
- Creating more protections and allocating resources to serve voters with disabilities and overseas/military voters
- Accepting a wide range of forms of non-photographic identification in places where ID is required to vote
The bill is intended to improve voter access. Democrats and Republicans often believe high voter turnouts helps Democrats, but that assumption is not necessarily true, Insider's Grace Panetta reported.
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to hold a vote on the bill, the legislation will require 60 votes to pass, and will likely be blocked by Republicans unless changes are made to the chamber's filibuster rules, a move that is currently opposed by Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.