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Biden news - live: New Yorkers head to the polls as GOP prepares to block major voting rights bill

Biden news - live: New Yorkers head to the polls as GOP prepares to block major voting rights bill

New Yorkers are heading to the polls today for the Democratic and Republican primaries in the city’s mayoral race. With the city’s heavy tilt to the left side of the aisle, the Democratic primary race among 13 candidates is likely to determine New York’s next mayor.

The primary race began at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that killed more than 33,000 New York City residents and underscored overlapping crises in housing, unemployment, healthcare and education.

Voting closes on 22 June amid fresh optimism with relatively strong Covid-19 vaccination rates – alongside growing concerns over public safety and citywide violence, with candidates debating their competing visions for the future of the nation’s largest and most expensive police force after antiracist uprisings and calls to “defund the police” to prioritise critical social services.

In-person voting comes to a close on 22 June, but results in the city’s first-ever ranked-choice election may not be revealed until next month.

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The primary takes place as Senate Republicans in Washington prepare to block the Democrats’ efforts at passing sweeping voting rights reform. Republicans are unanimous in their opposition to the For The People Act.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated that the chamber will vote today on starting debate on the bill, making it clear that Democrats want to put Republicans on record over whether they even want to have a debate about voting rights.

Republican Senators have flatly rejected the bill, which has widespread bipartisan support among American voters, while accusing Democrats of trying to rig future elections by expanding voting access.

The bill proposes automatic voter registration, mandating at least 15 consecutive days of early voting, lifting restrictions on mail-in voting, ending partisan gerrymandering, and putting in place several campaign finance and ethics measures that expose “dark money” backers.

Democrats passed the measure in the House of Representatives in March.