Dozens of House Democrats have joined together behind proposals in that legislative chamber that would honor the late Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, whose late February birthday recently passed.
One of the measures is a resolution honoring the deceased Congressman and recounting some of the highlights of his decades of work, while the other would create a program named after Lewis as part of the Fulbright Scholarship Program that would, as explained by a press release from Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), “support scholars who want to study nonviolent civil rights movements abroad.” The resolution honoring Lewis had 66 cosponsors, all of whom were Democrats, as of Wednesday, and it was introduced by Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), who is also the chairperson of the Georgia Democratic Party. The bill that would honor Lewis’s legacy with government support for study of the sort of thing to which he dedicated so much of his life had two Republicans among its cosponsors, alongside 58 other Democrats and Williams, who was again the main sponsor.
The two Republicans who attached their names to the measure were Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Earl Carter (Ga.). Also attached to Lewis’s name have been efforts to enact new protections at the federal level for voting rights, including by reestablishing requirements under which federal authorities had to approve certain changes to the handling of elections in some locales before those updates were implemented. Thanks in no small part to the commitment to the Senate’s filibuster rules from Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), that proved unsuccessful — for now, but the effort to better safeguard the right to vote is continuing.
Goldman has introduced another bill — his first — that would standardize the length of time required for early voting in states around the country when federal elections are happening, requiring at least two weeks. The bill would also work to eliminate some of the confusion that’s been seen in some states after polling places closed because of the delays in tabulating ballots. In states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, authorities have had to wait until Election Day to even begin processing the absentee ballots that were submitted, which is not a uniform requirement across the U.S. Florida often has quick results — and in that state, election administrators can begin processing and counting absentee ballots before Election Day.
The delay in finalizing results from the 2020 presidential election was used by Trump and some allies of his as support for their false claims of systematic fraud in the race. Goldman’s bill would require “that election officials start processing and scanning ballots at least 14 days prior to Election Day,” a press release said. The bill, if implemented, would also cover the length of time that in-person polling places are actually open each day during early voting.
