As senators debate voting rights act, GOP seek to add restrictions in many states

WASHINGTON — A landmark federal voting rights measure being debated in a Senate committee Wednesday comes as Republicans in dozens of statehouses are pushing local legislation that would make it harder for many Americans to vote.

The For the People Act, which includes provisions making it easier to register and to cast ballots, is the voting rights measure advocates have long desired.

But the stakes for it passing the Senate shot up after the 2020 presidential election, when Republicans in more than 40 statehouses introduced legislation that advocates fear would suppress the vote and shrink democracy. Despite no evidence of widespread fraud, Republicans are making their calls for restrictions under the banner of “voting integrity.”

That familiar rhetoric was infused into the national dialogue by former President Donald Trump, who had long