June 18, 2021: Senate Democrats scrambled on Thursday to unite behind a sweeping election reform bill ahead of a vote on the measure next week, with a key member of their caucus signaling a willingness to support them as Republicans present a united front in opposition.
“Our goal remains crystal clear: Protect the right to vote, strengthen our democracy, and put a stop to the tide of voter suppression flooding across our country,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who announced a Tuesday vote that would start debate on the bill titled the For the People Act.
“Republican state legislatures are conducting the most sweeping attack on the right to vote since the beginning of Jim Crow,” Schumer said
Fourteen states have passed voting binding laws this year, and about 400 bills have been filed in 48 states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute. Legislation is a major electoral reform law that seeks to increase voter access through automatic enrollment, increase absentee ballots and early voting – hallmarks of the pandemic – as well as campaign financial disclosures. It is about expanding, eliminating prejudice and providing institutional funding.
But Republicans say they intended to sink the measures that a GOP senator has called the “mother of all powers grabs.” “This is the solution in search of a problem,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “This is a huge blow to our electoral system, and no one has been fooled, and the Senate will reject it next week.” “The Senate should reject this bill, and I’m sure the Senate will reject it,” said Roy Blunt, a former Missouri secretary of state and senior Republican on the Senate Rules Committee overseeing electoral law.
Republicans oppose any efforts to federalize elections and have claimed the bill would support “ballot harvesting,” suppress First Amendment rights in campaign finance reforms and more broadly tilt future elections to Democrats with a partisan Federal Election Commission.
Despite the bill’s expected failure on Tuesday, Democrats said caucus unity was an important symbolic pushback against red state election law changes that critics say depress turnout of voters who tend to support Democrats
The coalition’s chances were further heightened this week when Sen. Joe Manchin, the only Democrat to oppose the legislation, unveiled a list of amendments he said could earn his vote on Wednesday. The Manchin list includes some items that the party supports, such as automatic voter registration and increased campaign funding, but the list also includes measures that have been criticized in the past by his colleagues. Such as the need to amend the voter list and the need for voter identification.
Still, the West Virginia Democrat received some crucial support Thursday. Fair Fight’s Stacey Abrams signed on to the changes, something decried by McConnell, who announced his opposition to them
“What Senator Manchin is presenting is the path to some of the basic buildings that we have to make sure democracy is accessible, no matter what your geography,” Abram told CNN’s “New Day.” It doesn’t matter. ” A level playing field will create standards that vary from state to state and, I think, will ensure that every American has the right to vote despite the onslaught of state legislation to prevent access to the right to vote. Improves accessibility.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who has been on the forefront of civil rights activism, struck a hopeful tone. “I think that we are making considerable progress. We might squabble about one or two things,” he said. “I’m not about to sacrifice the good in the pursuit of the perfect…I think we are very close to where we need to be.”
The move under consideration will have to be amended on Tuesday to incorporate Manchin’s changes, and Manchin will not say how he intends to vote on the measurement of the procedure. Still, his collegues were convinced that Manchin was on board after a special closed-door lunch on Thursday.
Senate No. 2 Democrat Dick Durban of Illinois noted the importance of the United Democratic Front. “What’s happening across the United States can’t be ignored. And even if the recorded vote doesn’t go in our favor – I hope it does – but if it doesn’t, the members have a record. “We’re going through a period of voter pressure that is unprecedented in modern history, and if Republicans want to join, it’s their decision, but they’re on record,” he said.
Despite this possible symbolic victory, Democrats are far from passing their law through an evenly divided Senate where 10 Republicans need to join an all-majority party to break the GOP-led flipper. That’s why voter rights activists have called on the Democratic leadership to blow up the Senate’s filibuster principle, which has been rejected by several other Democrats, including Manchin.
But the vote Tuesday, with united GOP opposition, could lend fuel to the argument that the filibuster is outdated.
“I really wish the press would ask the other side more questions about voting rights, because it’s the voting rights that’s inscribed in the Constitution. Not the filibuster,” said Warnock.
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