On Saturday, Business Insider reported that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was caught spreading falsehoods about the voting rights legislation advancing in the Senate.
“On an invitation-only call with GOP state lawmakers last week, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claimed Democrats are working to give ‘illegal aliens’ and ‘child molesters’ the right to vote, according to a recording of the call obtained by the Associated Press,” reported Kelsey Vlamis. “The call, which occurred amid an ongoing battle over voting rights, was organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that recommends legislation to lawmakers.”
“H.R. 1′s only objective is to ensure that Democrats can never again lose another election, that they will win and maintain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and of the state legislatures for the next century,” said Cruz on the call.
H.R. 1, the For the People Act, has a number of provisions designed to end partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, set a minimum standard of voter access in states that limits the number of restrictions individual states can pass, and broadly overhaul the country’s campaign finance system. It was recently passed by the House. A similar bill, S. 1, has been introduced in the Senate.
Neither bill is likely to overcome Republican opposition under current Senate rules, which has triggered intense debate on the future of the legislative filibuster rule.
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license