The Senate has held its first hearing on the For the People Act — the most sweeping voting rights bill in decades. The legislation has already been approved by the House. Senate Democrats say it is needed to counter efforts at the state level by Republicans to restrict the right to vote. Since the 2020 election, Republican state lawmakers have introduced over 250 bills in 43 states to limit voter access. This is Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: “Instead of doing what you should be doing when you lose an election in a democracy — attempting to win over those voters in the next election — Republicans instead are trying to disenfranchise those voters. Shame on them!”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the effort to protect voting rights a “power grab.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell: “This is clearly an effort by one party to rewrite the rules of our political system.”

In other voting news, lawmakers in Washington state have passed a bill to automatically restore voting rights for people who are on parole and probation.