Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, tonight said this is a “make-or-break moment” for our republic, and now is not the time to give up on election reform legislation that cleared the U.S. House earlier this year.
“The fact that we cannot see that bill getting passed right now, that the Senate is struggling to pass that bill — I’m astounded that anybody who is an elected office that takes influence out of elections…and allows people to have free and fair voting,” Axne said during a town hall forum in West Des Moines.
The bill includes new campaign finance disclosures and would require at least 15 days of early voting in every state. Axne described the measure as a necessary response to this political moment.
“Right now we have some people who I work with who don’t even believe we have a valid president,” Axne said to the crowd of about three dozen sitting in the shade of a picnic shelter.
After the forum, Axne told reporters she plans to personally urge West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin to change his stance on the bill. Manchin announced Sunday he won’t vote for an election bill that has the backing of just one party.
“I’m going to talk to him,” Axne said. “Listen, I take a lot of hard votes in states like Iowa. I think people who are authentic and true to their convictions and are representing the people who they serve, they’re going to make it back and I think anybody who stands up for the constitution and for people’s right to vote, they’ll make it back.”.