President Biden accused the Republicans yesterday of seeking the greatest curbs on US voting rights since the Civil War. Speaking in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution were signed, he launched a fightback against restrictive state laws that the Democrats claim are partisan and racist. SponsoredRepublicans in 17 states have passed reforms to limit postal and early voting in the wake of Donald Trump’s continuing claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Democrats argue that these measures simply made it easier to vote during the pandemic and the Republican backlash is aimed at suppressing Democratic support. Biden, 78, was under pressure from his party’s left wing to adopt a more aggressive response especially since two voting rights bills drawn

Source: The Times July 13, 2021 23:00 UTC