Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called concerns about politically motivated firings of election officials "ridiculous." The Kentucky senator made the remarks during a press conference on Tuesday as SenateDemocrats prepare for another attempt at maneuvering a voting rights bill through the evenly split chamber.

The Democrats' Freedom to Vote Act is intended to protect voters from restrictive measures passed by state legislatures following the 2020 election. The legislation also includes a provision intended to protect officials administering federal elections from being removed for political reasons.

McConnell dismissed the idea that any state legislature would be "crazy enough" to not honor the results of an election.

"I think they assume that people who get elected to legislatures are idiots," McConnell said. "They get elected by the people, too. Why would any legislature in America want to overturn the counting of votes? They have to get elected by those people, too."

Mitch McConnell Speaking at Event
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters on Tuesday, where he dismissed the idea that state legislators would undermine the will of voters. Anna Moneymaker//Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in an interview on CNN earlier Tuesday that voting rights of people of color, city dwellers, disabled people and others are being undermined across the country. He said these attacks are motivated by false claims that widespread voter fraud prevented former President Donald Trump from winning the 2020 election.

"We have seen officials—these officials whose only job is to count the vote accurately—being threatened by the same forces," said Schumer. He added that "democracy is at stake here."

Schumer's office could not be reached Tuesday evening by Newsweek for comment.

The nonpartisan States United Democracy Center issued a report last month detailing over 260 bills introduced by Republican state legislators the group described as "promoting election sabotage." Of these bills, 32 have become law across 17 states.

The report pointed to examples in battleground states, including in Pennsylvania where lawmakers are advancing a constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to undo regulations issued by the state's head election officer.

In Wisconsin, legislators have targeted the bipartisan state Elections Commission, according to the report. Local Republican parties in Michigan have replaced appointees to county canvassing boards in eight of the 11 largest counties in the state, the report said.

Across the country, election workers and officials have been subject to harassment and death threats following the 2020 election.

The Freedom to Vote Act would allow elections officials to take legal action if they are removed for reasons other than "gross negligence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office," according to an analysis by the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School. The legislation also adds protections against intimidation of election workers.

Schumer has said that if Republicans continue to block the bill he will move forward with a proposed change to the Senate's filibuster later this month.