All nine Republicans on the U.S. Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday killed an amendment by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff that would make it illegal for states to ban volunteers from giving water to voters waiting in line. Sen. Ossoff’s home state of Georgia passed a law making it illegal to give water to voters waiting in line. That law was signed by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
“This is about decency — basic decency,” Ossoff said in a press conference announcing the amendment, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. “This is about the health and well-being of a senior citizen who’s being made to wait six hours in line to vote and allowing a volunteer to hand that senior citizen a bottle of water without facing up to a year in jail.”
The Republicans voting against water are: Ranking Member Roy Blunt (MO), Mitch McConnell (KY), Richard Shelby (AL), Ted Cruz (TX), Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Roger Wicker (MS), Deb Fischer (NE), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), and Bill Hagerty (TN).
Watch as the Republicans kill the water for voters amendment: