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"These unabashedly racist and partisan attacks on our nation's
democratic principles must be forcefully condemned and
expeditiously reversed," the 41 members of the House of
Representatives wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General
Merrick Garland on Monday.
Among the lawmakers who signed the letter were Congressional
Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty and Representatives Ilhan Omar,
Barbara Lee, James Clyburn and Ayanna Pressley.
"It is critical that you enforce every applicable law to ensure
all citizens can vote", they wrote in the letter. "No lawsuit is
too trivial when it comes to the voting rights of citizens."
President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats suffered twin
legislative defeats last month in their push to toughen voting
rights protections in the run-up to this November's mid-term
elections that will determine control of Congress in 2023.
Senate Republicans had blocked the Democrats' move to advance
the voting rights legislation toward passage. They had employed
the decades old "filibuster" rule to stop the legislation, which
requires the cooperation of at least 60 of the Senate's 100
members to keep bills alive. The Senate currently is split
50-50.
Democrats have accused Republicans in various states of
exploiting their majorities in state legislatures to craft
electoral maps that diminish the clout of Black and other racial
minority voters while maximizing the power of white voters.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed in states around the country
challenging congressional lines drawn as part of a once-a-decade
cycle.
(Reporting by Sarah Lynch in Washington, writing by Kanishka
Singh; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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