AG Merrick Garland is giving a speech on voting rights at the DOJ starting momentarily — will thread highlights/notable quotes here
starts by shouting out newly confirmed @KristenClarkeJD as leader of the DOJ civil rights division
Garland: "There are many things that are open to debate in America, but the right of all eligible citizens to vote is not one of them"
Garland giving us a brief overview of the history of voting rights
Garland says action to expand voting rights "must be followed by meaningful enforcement," citing Congress passing the Klu Klux Klan Act and creating the DOJ following the 15th amendment
Garland giving us a history of Jim Crow and the Voting Rights Act, citing lots of landmark cases familiar to election law nerds
Garland rebukes the ongoing recount effort in Maricopa County (without specifically naming it/mentioning AZ) as "based on disinformation," noted the DOJ has warned AZ it could be running afoul of federal laws
Garland reiterates that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in 2020, says: "many of the changes are not calibrated to address the kinds of voter fraud that are alleged as justification."
Garland: "We are again without a preclearance provision, so the Civil Rights Division needs more lawyers"
Says DOJ will DOUBLE its staff members working on voting rights in the civil rights division
Says DOJ will DOUBLE its staff members working on voting rights in the civil rights division
Says the division is "scrutinizing" proposed and current laws and will take enforcement action as appropriate,
"We will apply the same scrutiny to post-election audits to ensure they comply with statuary requirements," he says, saying the DOJ will publish more guidance too
"We will apply the same scrutiny to post-election audits to ensure they comply with statuary requirements," he says, saying the DOJ will publish more guidance too
Garland calls on Congress to pass the For the People Act and The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act #S1 #HR4
"We will not wait for that legislation to act, but we must be clear-eyed" about Shelby's impact
"We will not wait for that legislation to act, but we must be clear-eyed" about Shelby's impact
Garland says threats on election officials "undermine our electoral process and violate a myriad of federal laws," says the DOJ's criminal division will prosecute those who violate the law in threatening election workers/poll workers (more on that here): reuters.com/investigates/s…
Big takeaway: Garland really, really wants Congress to restore federal preclearance, which we've been without for 8 years now — he emphasized multiple times that it was the DOJ's most effective tool to stop discriminatory voting laws
And on redistricting: Garland said that since this year "will likely be the first since 1960 to proceed without preclearance provisions, we will publish new guidance to make clear the voting protections that apply to all jurisdictions as they redraw legislative maps"
("year" in this case means redistricting year)
my wrap-up: AG Merrick Garland rebukes dubious ballot reviews 'based on disinformation' and says the DOJ will double its voting rights staff businessinsider.com/ag-garland-reb…
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