Poli Alert Political & Civics
Related Articles
Senate Republicans once again blocked a pair of voting rights bills in a Wednesday evening procedural vote, holding firm in their opposition to a top priority of President Joe Biden and prompting Democrats to take up filibuster reform – even without full party support.
In an expected loss, Democrats failed to overcome a GOP filibuster to end debate and move to final passage for the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. All 50 Democratic senators – including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – voted for it but because no Republicans joined them, they couldn’t reach 60 votes to push it forward.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changed his vote to “no” as a procedural move to allow him to bring up the legislation again.
A subsequent vote to change filibuster rules to require a “talking filibuster” specifically for the voting rights legislation also failed to meet the threshold in a 52-48 vote with Manchin and Sinema joining Republicans in opposing the measure.
President Joe Biden issued a statement after the vote saying that he was “profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for our democracy” by not passing the legislation but was not “deterred.”
“As dangerous new Republican laws plainly designed to suppress and subvert voting rights proliferate in states across the country, we will explore every measure and use every tool at our disposal to stand up for democracy,” Biden said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden tasked with leading the White House agenda on voting rights, described Wednesday as a “historic night.”
“History is going to record and watch certainly, the votes that are taking place,” Harris said. “This is about the fundamental freedom to vote and what should be unfettered access to the ballot. I am here to make a strong statement that this is, whatever happens tonight from the outcome of this vote, the president and I are not going to give up on this issue. This is fundamental to our democracy and it’s non-negotiable.”
Several states have passed more restrictive voting laws in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, which saw Biden defeat incumbent President Donald Trump.
The new voting rights legislation seeks to increase access to voting across the country, including same-day voter registration, making Election Day a public holiday, setting a standard for a minimum number of early voting days and allowing mail-in voting for any reason.
