Archive link

US President Donald Trump, on Friday, February 13, threatened to try to bypass Congress and force new voting laws ahead of the November midterm elections, where his Republican Party fears losing control of the legislature. Trump said he would soon issue an executive order attempting to impose the rules if Congress does not pass a law requiring photo identification to vote and other nationwide reforms.

Any attempt would likely be met by a legal challenge that could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. “There will be Voter ID for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order,” he wrote.

While many jurisdictions across the United States require photo ID to cast ballots, not all do, with Trump and many Republicans arguing without evidence that those areas have permitted significant voter fraud.

The Trump-backed “SAVE America” election reform act passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week. However, it is expected to fail in the Senate, where the Republican majority is too slim to pass the law without Democratic support.

In addition to requiring a photo ID to cast a ballot, the bill would also require proof of citizenship to register to vote. There is no evidence of meaningful fraud in US elections and critics say that the bill’s measures would instead push millions of people away from casting ballots, because they don’t have a passport or a paper copy of their birth certificate.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 hours ago

    Nah. That joke started when racist hillbillies used it as an excuse for a war to keep the right to own people. The irony is on the other foot.

    • hakase@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      2 hours ago

      Except you don’t have to look at ancient history to find literally dozens of modern issues where Lemmy happens to disagree with an individual state’s decision and demands that whatever issue it is be nationalized.

        • hakase@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 hours ago

          I mean, federal overreach can certainly be seen as kinda like fascism, I suppose, though I think it dilutes an important term to say so under normal circumstances.

          Under the current administration, yeah, it’s definitely fascism.