6 NEWS Controversy of the week
Elections: Should it be easier or harder to vote?
Republicans failed to help Donald Trump steal the 2020 election,
said Ari Berman in MotherJones.com, but they’re already
“trying to steal the next one.” Horrified by the
record turnout that powered Joe Biden’s nar-
row victory in swing states, GOP lawmakers
in 28 states have introduced 106 separate bills
restricting citizens’ access to the ballot box. If
enacted, the bills would curtail early and absentee
voting; impose more stringent voter ID require-
ments; reduce the number of polling places and
ballot drop-boxes; eliminate automatic and same-
day registration programs; and make it easier
for Republican officials to “purge” voter rolls of
Democrats. As always, Republicans are justify-
ing their voter-suppression efforts in the name of
“ballot integrity,” said The Washington Post in an editorial. But
that’s hard to square with a proposed Arizona bill that would
empower the state’s (Republican) legislature to simply “decertify”
unfavorable election results and let them choose their own electors.
Republicans are keenly aware that their base of white, rural, mostly
male voters is being steadily outnumbered by minorities, young
progressives, and educated suburban women. As Alice O’Lenick, a
GOP election official in Georgia put it, new voting restrictions are
needed “so that we at least have a shot at winning.”
We’re at a “fundamental crossroads in American politics,” said
Ronald Brownstein in TheAtlantic.com. Democrats can’t block
these “anti-democratic measures” at the state level—17 of those 28
states are under full Republican control. But the House is poised
to pass H.R.1, or the For the People Act, which would mandate
automatic voter registration in every state, along with unlimited
absentee voting and 15 days of early voting. The bill would also
prohibit extreme gerrymandering and so-called dark money cam-
paign funding, while restoring voting rights to ex-felons.
Republicans will no doubt filibuster the bill, so unless
Democrats can persuade all of their 50 senators to abol-
ish the filibuster, expanded voting rights is dead on
arrival. That will have “enormous consequences for the
future balance of power between the parties.”The Democrats’ bill isn’t about defending democracy,
said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. It’s about
“cementing Democratic political power.” The bill is
designed to “auto-enroll likely Democratic voters,”
such as food-stamp recipients, while enshrining in law
fraud- susceptible practices such as ballot harvesting and
same-day registration. All while making it harder
for Republican candidates to raise money, said Jack
Fowler in NationalReview.com. Banning anonymous political dona-
tions may sound neutral, but the Left routinely shames, ostracizes,
and organizes boycotts of Republican donors. H.R.1 might be bet-
ter named the “For the People Who Are Not Conservatives Act.”Both parties assume that making it easier to vote helps Democrats,
said Bill Scher in WashingtonMonthly.com. But “that’s hardly cer-
tain.” The massive turnout in 2020 no doubt helped Biden, but the
predicted “Blue Wave” did not materialize: Republicans flipped 15
House seats and won big in state elections. The GOP needs to start
thinking long-term, said Lee Drutman in The Washington Post. If
Republicans double down on restricting voting rights, they “might
squeeze out another decade of power” before being “crushed”
by the demographic tide. To stay competitive, the GOP needs to
“nominate moderates” who can win elections without voter sup-
pression, gerrymandering, and the other anti-democratic dark
arts. By forcing the Republicans to evolve sooner rather than later,
H.R.1 is “the long-term rescue package they desperately need.”Only in America
QA Louisiana woman who
used Gorilla Glue to keep her
hair in place has hired an attor-
ney. Tessica Brown went viral
with a video in which she says
that her hair hasn’t moved in
a month, even after chemical
solvents were applied in a hos-
pital emergency room. Brown
complains that Gorilla Glue’s
labeling warns only against
getting the product “in eyes,
on skin or on clothing.”
QMembers of New Hamp-
shire’s House of Representa-
tives can no longer have pets
in the room during video meet-
ings. Democratic Rep. Anita
Burroughs says that after her
two cats wandered into sight
during a meeting, Republican
chairman John Hunt banned
animal appearances. Bur-
roughs said having her cats
with her while she works is
“calming” and “is part of the
life we’re living right now.”Children,after a bill was introduced in North Carolina’s state
legislature that would raise the state’s legal marrying age from 14
to 18. GOP state Rep. Jason Saine said “this state has disturbingly
become a tourist destination for those looking to marry children.”
Getting your stuff,after Kanye West moved 500 pairs of sneak-
ers out of the Southern California home he shared with estranged
wife Kim Kardashian, who is vacationing in the Caribbean.
Frozen assets,after retired Navy Lt. Paul Grisham, 91, of
California was reunited with a brown leather wallet that he lost in
1967 while stationed at a research base in Antarctica. The wallet
was discovered behind a locker when the base was demolished in
2015, and Grisham thanked the “long series of people involved
who tracked me down.”Sore losers,after the mother of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback
Patrick Mahomes complained about the officiating during his
team’s loss in a tweet to Gisele Bündchen, the wife of victorious
Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady. “If you have to have the ref on
your team is that really winning!!!” Randi Mahomes tweeted.
Mixed messages, after organizers of the rescheduled Tokyo
Olympics announced that it will ban hugs, high-fives, and other
“unnecessary forms of physical contact” this summer, but will dis-
tribute 150,000 free condoms to residents of the Olympic Village.
Unseen enemies, after British mathematician Kit Yates calcu-
lated that the 2 quintillion very tiny coronavirus particles in the
world would fit inside a single Coke can.Good week for:
Bad week for:
APVoting by drop boxIn other news
SCOTUS lifts ban
on indoor worship
A divided Supreme Court
struck down California’s pro-
hibition on services in houses
of worship in areas of the
state hard hit by Covid-19 and
instead imposed a 25 percent
capacity restriction. The 6-
ruling found that the state’s
order had violated the right to
the free exercise of religion,
but it did uphold a ban on
singing and chanting. The
court’s six conservative jurists
issued three separate opin-
ions. “If Hollywood may host
a studio audience or film a
singing competition while not
a single soul may enter Cali-
fornia’s churches, synagogues,
and mosques,” wrote Justice
Neil Gorsuch in one, “some-
thing has gone seriously
awry.” In dissent, Justice Elena
Kagan wrote that judges are
“not scientists” who should
create public health policies.