BREAKING: Democrats score SURPRISE victory

this is democracy watch so Mark we've got some unexpected good news out of a swing state Minnesota can you speak on what just happened in that state yeah great news both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature led by democrats passed a Minnesota Voting Rights Act all that is left is for the governor to sign it and Governor walls is a true pro-democracy governor and he will and this will be Landmark for the people of Minnesota it will be an example for many many states in this country to follow now is there any any impediment any legal impediment that could prevent this from becoming law no I mean look this is the thing you know elections have consequences and Minnesota's legislature for many many years was divided between Democrats and Republicans and finally Democrats could control took control of both houses of the legislature as well as the governorship and the the the result will be that the people of Minnesota are going to have Landmark voted rights uh legislation take effect um uh Governor wals has already signed a number of other expansive voting rights laws that the legislature have passed including restoring the voting rights of over 55,000 individuals who uh who had been disen disenfranchised with previous felony convictions that was the Democracy for the people act this is the Minnesota Voting Rights Act this is unadulterated good news for Minnesota and I hope all of the other Democratic Governors and legislators are paying attention now I would also argue that this is even more significant given what happened in light of the a circuit court of appeal so can you talk about what happened at that circuit court and why it makes this especially important right so this is especially critical because remember the eth circuit which is a very very conservative circuit you know you and I have talked a lot about the fifth circuit which includes Texas we've talked a lot about the 11 circuit which includes Florida but boy the eighth circuit is is on a on a pound-for-pound basis one of the most uniformally uh conservative anti-voting circuits in the country um and it is the circuit that took away the private right of action for individuals and for voting rights Advocates and groups to enforce the federal Voting Rights Act so remember we talked about this this terrible ruling that came out of the E circuit that said that that only the Department of Justice can enforce the federal Voting Rights Act this uh is a catastrophe for minorities and other voters protected by the Voting Rights Act and but the good news is in Minnesota which is in the uh a circuit there is now state level remedies and the state courts in Minnesota are prepared to enforce this Voting Rights Act within that state so basically with these attacks in the eth circuit for example it precludes private rights of action so only the doj can enforce violations of the Voting Rights Act but when you have these state level Voting Rights Act does it reallow for private litigant to uh to to file lawsuits against violations of the Voting Rights Act absolutely what it does is it creates a state level equivalent of the federal Voting Rights Act and it explicitly this law will explicitly enable individuals and voting rights groups and organizations to be the private plaintiffs because there is a private right of action and you know Governor walls deserves credit on another front which is the appointments he's made to the Minnesota uh uh courts have been outstanding that's on top of the great uh appointments that we saw by the prior Democrat Governor Mark Dayton so the Minnesota courts are well positioned to fully uh Empower these voters and voting rights groups who bring these claims uh and so at least within the borders of Minnesota you know there will be alternate relief to going to Federal Court Mark how many states have state level Voting Rights Act now yeah so only a handful you've got California Washington Oregon Virginia New York and Connecticut are the states uh that that have them uh but we ought to be looking every state that has a trifecta which means Democratic control legislature and Democratic Governors ought to be uh enacting a state level V and the states that have them ought to be expanding them you know it's never it's where democracy is never done the the the task of protecting democracy against right-wing election denialism uh and and conservative and Republican assaults on Democracy can never be a finished product project so we need every state that's able to to upgrade its election laws where are other state level Voting Rights Acts pending right now Maryland and New Jersey are right now considering it and I encourage them to enact uh these laws we've seen other states though like Min like uh Michigan uh not a state uh uh V but expand their voting laws so like I said there's lots of different forms this can take and I encourage everyone to do all of the above and don't forget in uh in Ohio uh my law firm and others are fighting for an expansive voting rights amendment to be on the ballot to allow um uh to allow uh better uh uh voting laws there democracy docket has been covering Minnesota has been covering all of these laws and of course to to read more about this stuff in democracy. I'll put the link right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video If you're not yet signed up please sign up trust me it is the most useful resource you'll find as it relates to all of this stuff Mark to that point then what would be the impact of a National Voting Rights you know piece of legislation to actually strengthen the federal Voting Rights Act okay let me look straight into the camera and tell everyone out there we need a federal Voting Rights Act strengthening Bill the johnr Lewis voting rights advancement act came really close to becoming law it passed the House of Representatives last congress not this one but the one when Democrats were in control without a single Republican vote it came very close to passing the Senate but was unable to overcome the filibuster which for time and time again has been the obstacle to full enfranchisement and democracy in this country it has to be the top priority and I know it will be for a reelected President Biden a reelected or a a uh Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and a new Speaker of the House hakee Jeff to bring this vital piece of legislation up it is great that we see States taking up the mantle of passing state level VI uh Voting Rights Act laws but that is not a substitute for Congress passing a national Bill to protect all Americans from coast to coast and from Texas to Minnesota under one law so please everyone keep up that pressure make sure that as you go to The Ballot Box this November you are voting for pro uh voting candidates and that is the Democrats up and down the ballot tell your neighbors and your friends that whatever issue they may care most about they are not going to see progress unless we elect Democrats up and down the ballot and they are able to enact new legislation to protect voting rights for all Americans and I would add too for those folks who say well look Democrats had majorities before they had majorities in the you know the previous Congress during Joe Biden's first term they had majorities even even larger ones when Obama was first elected into office the fact is that the filibuster has prevented any of this stuff from passing you need a 60 vote threshold in the Senate to be able to pass anything we had two Democratic senators Joe mansion and Kiron Cinema neither one of whom will be in the Senate after this year they'll be you know hopefully Kiron Cinema is replaced by Ruben gyo and and then if we hold on to all of the other Democrats who are uh who are defending swing seats in the Senate uh John tester in Montana shered Brown in Ohio Jackie Rosen in Nevada um then we can have a 50-50 Senate and if Joe Biden wins then kamla Harris will be the tiebreaker then we have enough votes to eliminate the filibuster Republicans have already eliminated the filibuster for all of their priorities they there is no filibuster for confirming judges which was Mitch McConnell's top priority for his entire life and for um changes to the tax code which means that they can impose tax cuts on the ultra wealthy those are the two things Republicans care about there is no filibuster for those things so if we want some Equity here if we want to be able to eliminate the filibusters so that we can actually pass Progressive legislation then we need to hold on to the Senate we need to obviously win the house and we need to have Joe Biden reelected so for those saying look Democrats had the ability to do it before they didn't but they can now if we're able to maintain our Dem our majorities in both houses of Congress and the presidency yeah and let me let me amplify one of the points you made there so eloquently you know when it came to judges which as you say is the thing the only thing Mr McConnell really cares about is it was judges they changed all kinds of rules I mean think about the rules they changed they changed the filibuster rules sure but they also changed the rules and the Norms about they they refused to confirm at the end of uh President Obama's term uh a uh a uh a new Justice because they said it was too close to the election then then then then Donald Trump when he at the end of his uh right for his uh loss on an even tighter time frame they they changed the rule again to be able to confirm uh uh justice Comey Barrett people people had already voted there were votes that had already been cast in that election yeah so they've been willing to do anything and I mean literally anything change any rule any Norm to affect the courts democracy is at stake you know democracy is at stake democracy is on the ballot this November democracy uh desperately needs new voting rights legislation so uh it is high time that that that become the top priority and of course uh just a reminder for folks watching right now Mark and his team are defending democracy on a daily basis in the courts right now so to support the invaluable work that he and his team are doing right now please sign up for democracy doet again I'll put the link right here on the screen also in the post description of this video I'm Brian teller Cohen I'm Mark Elias this is democracy watch [Music]

Channel: Brian Tyler Cohen

Views: 481,467

Keywords: Brian Tyler Cohen, Trump, Republicans, Democrats, brian cohen, politics, news, voting rights act, marc elias

Id: wsaLLrJwDX0

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2024