White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is railing against efforts to “strip the right” to vote, saying they are “authoritarian.”
During a White House press briefing on Monday, Psaki outlined President Joe Biden’s goals for his speech he is scheduled to deliver on voting rights on Tuesday.
“He’ll lay out the moral case for why denying the right to vote is a form of suppression and a form of silencing… He will redouble his commitment to using every tool at his disposal to continue to fight to protect the fundamental right of Americans to vote against the onslaught of voter suppression laws,” Psaki said.
She continued, “He’ll also decry efforts to strip the right to vote as authoritarian and anti-American and stand up against the notion that politicians should be allowed to choose their voters or to subvert our system by replacing independent election authorities to partisan ones.”
Psaki also said Biden would discuss “the importance of empowering, engaging, and supporting efforts around the country to make sure people know their rights and understand how to participate in the process.”
Check out part of the press briefing below:
Ahead of Pres. Biden’s voting rights speech this week, press sec. Psaki says state “efforts to strip the right to vote” are “authoritarian” and “the worst challenge to our democracy since the Civil War.” https://t.co/StP8jCyZ69 pic.twitter.com/NGcfowoct3
— ABC News (@ABC) July 12, 2021
While delivering a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month, Biden said the “sacred right is under assault with an incredible intensity like I’ve never seen.” He also called it “simply un-American.”
According to The New York Times, laws “restricting voting or significantly changing election rules” were passed by roughly a dozen Republican-controlled states this past spring.
The outlet notes many of the laws make it more difficult to vote early or by mail, banned or restricted drop boxes, made early or absentee voting periods shorter or provided more leeway to partisan poll watchers.
In June, the Senate also failed to advance the sweeping voting rights bill, the For the People Act, to the floor for a debate.