As the US commemorates the death of slain Black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, 54 years after his assassination, the battle over voting rights will take centre stage in Washington DC this week as Democrats in the US Congress push a set of sweeping election reforms over Republican objections.
The rhetoric has gotten heated with President Joe Biden accusing Republicans of attacking the foundation of democracy – the right to vote – and with former President Donald Trump continuing to claim – without evidence – there was widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.
Prominent Republicans continue to support Trump’s fraud assertions that have been disproven by dozens of defeated court cases and a number of recounts.
“Our democracy is certainly being challenged from the grassroots to school boards, library boards, all the way up to the national level,” James Thuber, a professor of government at American University in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera. “It is a serious problem, because we’ve lost the civility that we used to have.”
Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election and attempt to overturn the vote on January 6 were unprecedented and dangerous, many analysts believe. Combined with a new drive by Republicans in state legislatures to gain control of local voting boards, observers fear Trump could try again and succeed in 2024.
Al Jazeera looks at voting rights and how American democracy is at risk.
The push...
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