Graham says voting rights bill ‘biggest power grab’ in history of U.S.
"It's just a bad idea," the South Carolina senator said, "and it's a problem that most Republicans are not going to sign."
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham called the For the People Act “the biggest power-grab in the history of the country.”
The bill would expand 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.
But Graham said on Fox News Sunday, “In my view, S.R. 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.”
More than 40 states have seen new voting laws initiated by Republicans since the 2020 presidential election, which saw widespread party loss. The “Big Lie” perpetuated by former President Donald Trump and his cronies that there was rampant fraud has led to the passage of “reform” legislation in Georgia, Florida and Texas.
Graham also said he wouldn’t support the compromise offered by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, which was supported by Democratic voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams.
“Well, one, I like Joe Manchin a lot, but we had the largest turnout in the history of 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 told Chris Wallace.
“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 bill has passed the House, but it appears destined to fail in the Senate because it will not reach the 60 votes required to overcome the GOP filibuster.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled that Republicans will not support either the original bill or the Manchin compromise, which includes voter ID.
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