marc elias clearly is on it. but he's also sounding a public alarm that in his words, lawyers alone, and these lawsuits alone are not going to solve this problem. joining us now to explain why is marc elias, democratic voting rights attorney. founder of democracy docket. marc, nice to see you. thanks for being. here >> thanks for having me, rachel. >> i think a lot of people look at your track record over the course of a career, but your track record particularly in the past year, and they feel confident knowing that you are fighting these laws. and that you are bringing these lawsuits. and they have a lot of faith in your ability to back down some of the worst of this stuff. why are you trying to signal to people that actually, these lawsuits and other good lawyers like herself, it's not enough? >> really, for two reasons, rachel. the first is that it is not realistic to assume that every provision of every bad law is going to get struck down by a court. we won more they'd we lost in 2019 and 2020. we did better

marc elias was saying is worrisome. the idea that these audits, these fringe audits, these fraudulent audits, now have the stamp of being a tool of the state, it will become normal. in places like texas, to be able to have the legislature overturn the will of the people, if the will of the people is not what the legislature wants it to be. it worries some people the words this and and how it is and? >> it worries me. it's infectious. we're seeing is spread across the country and republican legislatures. again, with highly elected officials, continuing that the big lie. i've had the debate on the floor of the house. it's quite toxic to talk to republican legislators who still can't say that this was a free and fair election. that the courts and the rule of law matters. i keep thinking back to the funeral of john lewis, were we heard from president barack obama. and he talked about democracy as a fragile thing. it is not a certainty. democracy is not a certainty. i think for maybe four decades we kind of thought it was. i

. >> let's listen to what marc elias said about -- his election lawyer working for the democrats all over the country, bringing lawsuits all over the country. fighting these things. he says the solution is national. we can give it to you -- i'll read it in the new york times about this meeting that he had with the senate democrats last week. where he was in there, i've been in those meetings in the senate where they're all gathered around in one room, senator manchin was there in the new york times report indicates that senator manchin this listened to marc elias throughout that discussion. then when it was over, he told reporters, i'm learning basically we're going to be talking and negotiating, talking and negotiating, talking and negotiating. what's your reaction to that? >> i'm so glad that you played some of that live interview with stacey abrams earlier. she recounted this wonderful story that took place in 1964, andrea, dr. markey luther king junior, went into visit president lyndon johnson and said we've got past the voting rights act. president johnson is purported to say, i

coming up, colin allred is a voting rights attorney who has worked with marc elias who is currently challenging the voter suppression laws in the country. colin has been there as well, he's now a democratic congressman from -- texas. he joins us next. he joins us next ♪ termites. ♪ don't mess up your deck with tex-mex. terminix. here to help. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can! downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry. with 6 times the freshness ingredients, downy unstopables gives you more of what you love. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched save