WV: Hundreds Protested Manchin Opposition To Voting Law Overhaul, Sunday Eve, June 14, Charleston

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Last edited Tue Jun 15, 2021, 09:18 AM - Edit history (2)

'Hundreds Protest Manchin's Opposition to Voting Law Overhaul.' Hundreds of demonstrators outraged with Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to a sweeping overhaul of U.S. election law marched through the state’s capital city on Monday evening. Associated Press (US News), June 14, 2021, at 10:19 p.m.

By CUNEYT DIL, Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators outraged with Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to a sweeping overhaul of U.S. election law marched through West Virginia's capital city on Monday evening. Rev. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, denounced the influential moderate Democratic senator and called for a diverse coalition of working people to apply pressure on Manchin, who recently opposed a $15 minimum wage and the price tag of President Joe Biden's initial $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

- "West Virginia needs a real senator,” he thundered at a Charleston park in front of a festive crowd. -

Then they marched a mile to Manchin's office. Unable to meet with the senator — an aide told Barber that he was in Washington — leaders of the demonstration affixed a poster-sized protest letter to the front doors of the office building. Rally-goers took turns signing their names on it. When Manchin's aides offered comment cards to collect protestors' grievances, Barber waved them away: “We don't want to talk to the staff." An email to Manchin's office about the protest was not immediately returned.

The protest was spurred by Manchin's decision to oppose a landmark reform of U.S. election law, a proposal known as For the People Act. Manchin said last week passing reform on a party-line vote risked further stoking partisan divides. As a key senator in a divided chamber, Manchin has frustrated progressive Democrats with his reluctance to support several key agenda items. Many people from neighboring states, including Kentucky and Maryland, drove and rode on buses to make it to the protest. They held signs and charged Manchin with enabling voter suppression.

He supports a narrower piece of legislation known as HR4 that updates the Voting Rights Act to reinstate a requirement that new voting laws and legislative districts in certain states be subject to federal approval. Crucially, Manchin opposes eliminating the 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster in the Senate, a step that would allow Democrats to pass top agenda items without Republican votes. That has turned the West Virginia Democrat into a kingmaker in the evenly divided chamber.

“With our senator pretty much controlling this thing, we want to be here to say we're not on the same page,” said Chuck Overstreet, a Charleston resident who joined the march. -

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/west-virginia/articles/2021-06-14/poor-peoples-campaign-to-hold-march-against-joe-manchin
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- MARCH ON MANCHIN, Calling on West Virginians, 'the Hood to the Hollers,' Poor Peoples Campaign, https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/manchin/

Moral Mondays: We are calling all West Virginians from the hood to the hollers to join us for a socially distanced, outdoor rally and march! We know that Senator Manchin’s position on the filibuster is constitutionally inconsistent, historically inaccurate, morally indefensible, economically insane, and politically unacceptable.
This position is hurting all West Virginians of all races, genders, and religions, and especially the 710,000 poor and low-income people in West Virginia (40% of people living in our state). We are tired of Senator Manchin abandoning us! This is why we must march on Monday!

West Virginians need a full restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and expanded protections for our democracy, beginning with the right to vote for everybody. His call for “bipartisanship” goes against the interests of poor and low-income West Virginians, who desperately need living wages of at least $15 / hour, guaranteed health care, housing and an infrastructure plan that meets all of our needs...



- Rev. William Barber, Poor People's Campaign, at the 'March on Manchin' in Charleston, WV, June 14, '21. "West Virginia needs a real senator!" he thundered.
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- "Hundreds Show Up In Charleston For The 'Moral March On Manchin," wowktv,
https://www.wowktv.com/news/hundreds-show-up-in-charleston-for-the-moral-march-on-manchin/

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A group of West Virginians are trying to send a message to Senator Joe Manchin about his stance on a variety of issues.

Manchin may be Considered for Secretary of State

That group held a rally in downtown Charleston Monday evening to get their point across. The organizers of the rally was the Poor People’s Campaign. After numerous people spoke, the crowd then marched to Senator Joe Manchin’s office, all in hopes that their voices will be heard.

“From the hood to the holler coming together across all of these lines that have historically been divided this nation but are saying ‘it doesn’t have to be this way, this isn’t as good as it gets,” said Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, the Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign.

They were calling on the West Virginia Senator to change his views on issues like raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and supporting the ‘For the People Act.‘ Some people who attended the rally say Manchin isn’t supporting what is good for West Virginia...