Kashmiri political parties are concerned that the inclusion of 2.5 million new voters in the Muslim-majority region will permanently disenfranchise Kashmiris.

This week, Joe Biden made a passionate speech on voting rights, comparing that fight to the battle to end racial segregation in the 1960s. For the first time ever, the US president is directly pushing to get rid of a vote-blocking device in the Senate known as the filibuster. That requires close to two thirds of senators to pass a bill, as opposed to a simple majority. Biden, a former senator himself, says the voting rights issue is a "battle for America's soul".