House Dems pass sweeping voting legislation over GOP opposition

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have approved sweeping voting and ethics legislation over unanimous Republican opposition, advancing to the Senate what would be the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation.

The bill was approved on a near party-line 220-210 vote. It would restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, strike down hurdles to voting and bring transparency to a murky campaign finance system that allows wealthy donors to anonymously bankroll political causes.

Democrats have presented it as a powerful counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country. Republicans have criticized it as an unwanted federal infringement in state elections.