Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called an election bill that would expand access to voting “the biggest power grab in the history of the country,” on Fox News on Sunday.
“In my view, SR-1 is the biggest power grab in the history of the country. It mandates ballot harvesting, no voter ID. It does away with the states being able to redistrict when you have population shifts. It’s just a bad idea, and it’s a problem that most Republicans are not going to sign – they’re trying to fix a problem most Republicans have a different view of,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Graham also said he would not support a bill offered by Sen. Joe Manchin (D.W. Va), as compromise.
“We had the largest turnout in the history the United States, and states are in charge of voting in America so I don’t like the idea of taking the power to redistrict away from the state legislators,” Graham said.
“You’re having people move from blue states to red states. Under this proposal, you’d have some kind of commission redraw the new districts, and I don’t like that,” he added. “I want states where people are moving to have control over how to allocate new congressional seats.”
The ‘For the People Act’ is a bill that expands voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, limit partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.
The bill has bipartisan support among Americans. According to a poll conducted by Data for Progress and Vox, “more than 80 percent of respondents said they supported preventing foreign interference in elections, limiting the influence of money in politics, and modernizing election infrastructure to increase election security. More than 60 percent of respondents supported requiring nonpartisan redistricting commissions, a 15-day early voting period for all federal elections, same-day registration for all eligible voters, automatic voter registration for all eligible voters, and giving every voter the option to vote by mail.
Asked if there’s a “risk” of Manchin and similarly minded Democratic Senators concluding that “bipartisanship isn’t working” because of Republican opposition to popular proposals, Graham said, “I hope not,” adding that he’s willing to work with Manchin on infrastructure and and police reform.
