On Tuesday, the Republican minority in the Senate unanimously used its filibuster power to block vital voting rights legislation, even as voter suppression proposals by Republican state legislatures sprout up across the country.
A central argument from the Republicans was that a federal body passing legislation on states' election procedures was a federal overstep.
This argument was parroted by moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine in a Senate floor speech.
Watch below.
Maine's Senators react to the elections bill voteyoutu.be
Collins said:
"[The bill] would take away the rights of people in each of the 50 states to determine which election rules work best for their citizens."
What Collins and her other Republican colleagues ignored is that some of the most treasured voting rights laws were federal decisions, including the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, and the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Her argument would call these long-accepted and consequential decisions into question, and its logical conclusion would be that any federal oversight into states' election procedures is out of bounds, even if individual states are deliberately undermining access to the ballot box for political gain.
People soon began pointing out the holes in her argument.
Note that by this logic Congress was wrong to pass the Voting Rights Act. Or, for that matter, to propose the 14th and 15th Amendmentshttps://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Scott Lemieux (@Scott Lemieux) 1624396305
Wasn\u2019t that the whole point of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?\n\nYes, it was.\n\nDidn\u2019t Susan Collins\u2019s political hero, Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith, help pass the Voting Rights Act?\n\nYes, she did.\n\nSo isn\u2019t Susan Collins a scorchingly dishonest hypocrite?\n\nYes, she is.https://twitter.com/craigcaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— John Nichols (@John Nichols) 1624411085
Susan Collins in 1870: “The Fifteenth Amendment would take away the rights of people in each of the 50 states to determine which election rules work best for their citizens."
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) June 23, 2021
Could someone please introduce Susan Collins to the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the authority and the duty to set uniform federal election rules for all 50 states?\n\nArticle 1, Section 4\n15th Amendment\n19th Amendment\n24th Amendment\n26th Amendmenthttps://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin) 1624457938
Wait until Susan Collins finds out about the 15th Amendment or the Voting Rights Act of 1965. \n\nSeriously, stop trying to compromise with these people.https://twitter.com/craigcaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1624456167
Collins' argument against S.1 would also apply to the 15th amendment, the 19th, the 24th, the 26th and the VRA. Perhaps she wants to repeal those measures too and return to the mid-19th century.https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Alex Keyssar (@Alex Keyssar) 1624466394
They also noted the historical purposes of the "states' rights" argument.
What the Senator from the whitest state in the union really means is \u201cit would take away the right of white people in each of the 50 states to determine which citizens should have to work harder to vote\u201dhttps://twitter.com/craigcaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Walter Shaub (@Walter Shaub) 1624443800
States rights. Jim Crow America. We see you @SenSusanCollinshttps://twitter.com/craigcaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Tera Hunter (@Tera Hunter) 1624456808
which "people," what does "work best" mean, and which "citizens" are we talking about herehttps://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Jay Willis (@Jay Willis) 1624396181
As soon as Republicans are using "states' rights" to defend something, you should know it's bad. Slavery, banning same-sex marriage... it's never an argument you hear in favor of something good.https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1407439558195699717\u00a0\u2026— Zack Ford (@Zack Ford) 1624450869
In 2006, Collins voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.
