Beto O’Rourke Says He Supports Joe Manchin’s Voting Rights Compromise

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During an appearance on CNN, former Representative Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) said he supports Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-W. Va.) policy demands on voter reform for the Senate to pass the For the People Act.

Manchin’s demands include banning partisan gerrymandering; requiring voter identification with new alternatives, such as a utility bill; mandating at least 15 consecutive days of early voting; and making Election Day a public holiday.

“This is progress… he’s [Manchin] trying to find a way to protect voting rights in this country at a moment that they’re under attack in more than 40 states in the wake of an insurrection on the 6th of January that sought to overturn that election and in the midst of a big lie trafficking by the former president but by those whom the senator serves with in the Senate and in [the] Congress,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke called the compromise “a step in the right direction” and believes that Manchin’s demands might have produced an agreement “that will allow the Senate to move forward.”

You can listen to O’Rourke’s remarks in the video below.

O’Rourke’s remarks come a day after former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams also backed Manchin’s compromise.

Abrams, who founded Fair Fight Action, a group dedicated to fighting voter suppression, provided a valuable endorsement of Manchin’s demands.

“What Senator Manchin is putting forward are some basic building blocks we need to ensure that democracy is accessible no matter your geography,” Abrams said to CNN yesterday. “Those provisions that he is setting forth are strong ones that will create a level playing field, will create standards that do not vary from state to state and, I think, will ensure that every American has improved access to the right to vote despite the onslaught of state legislation seeking to restrict access to the right to vote.”