WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed through on Tuesday with what appeared to be a futile attempt to introduce voting protections over the Republican opposition, pass legislation they believe was urgently needed to counter widespread ballot suppression, and map out a plan to make it happen. send GOP obstruction.
Using a procedural shortcut, New York Democrat and Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer avoided a Republican blockade that held up legislation for months to force it to the ground. But the Democrats fell far short of the votes needed to win the Republican opposition, and missed the votes needed in their own party to change and unilaterally implement Senate rules.
Still, they announced they would be making a long-standing effort to create an exception to the filibuster for voting rights laws, requiring opponents to hold the floor for an old-fashioned “talking filibuster” that would allow a final majority of 51 senators to vote — in instead of the 60 now needed – to move on after all senators have exhausted their speaking time.
“If the Senate cannot protect the right to vote, which is the cornerstone of our democracy, then the Senate rules must be reformed,” Schumer said.
The Democrats’ plan, unveiled at a private party meeting on Tuesday night, would still require a partisan vote to change the rules, meaning it cannot succeed at this point, given resistance from at least two Democrats.
No Republican currently supports the voting rights measure, which combines two sweeping bills intended to protect access to the ballot box, leaving Democrats 10 votes short in the evenly divided Senate.
The standoff has fueled calls for unilateral changes to filibuster rules so Democrats can overpower Republicans’ objections. But at least two Democrats, Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have made it clear they won’t, even if they support the bills.
“What good is it to maintain a dysfunctional tradition of duality if duality can’t even sustain democracy?” the NAACP wrote in a letter to Democratic senators on Tuesday. “It is morally inconsistent to praise voting rights legislation when a procedural rule allows it.”
The reluctance of the two senators has enraged Democratic activists and the progressive base of the party. Emily’s List, a prominent political action committee that supports women who support abortion rights, threatened Tuesday to drop its support for Ms Sinema if she maintains her stance. . Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders said he would consider backing primary challengers for the two holdouts.
While the attempt seemed destined to fail, Mr Schumer has made it clear that he will still push for a vote and a rule change. Should that push fall short as expected, Democrats want all Senators to be aware of the issue and show their progressive allies, campaign donors and Democratic voters that they have done everything they can to protect the right to vote.
“Win, lose or draw, members of this chamber were elected to debate and vote, especially on an issue as important to the beating heart of our democracy as voting rights,” said Mr Schumer. “The public has a right to know where every senator stands on an issue as sacred as defending our democracy.”
The Democratic push has provoked a scathing response from Republicans, who portray it as a power play to gain more control over state-run elections while undermining a procedural tool they believe is fundamental to the very nature of the Senate.
“A faction desperate for unlimited power in the short term is one that should be denied it,” Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday as he accused Democrats of hypocrisy for supporting the filibuster. when she was outnumbered, but now tries to overthrow it.
The legislation, which can be put to a vote as early as Wednesday, consolidates two measures previously passed by the House but blocked out of Senate consideration: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. If approved by the Senate in their current form, they could be immediately signed by President Biden.
Under Democrats’ current strategy, once they try to break the filibuster, Schumer would spring into action as early as Wednesday night to change the rules. Success in changing the rules would require the support of all 50 Democrats and Independents, plus the casting vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
But Mr Manchin, who has expressed his support for the talking filibuster, said again on Tuesday that he would not support a partisan attempt to change the rules.
Understand the struggle for voting rights in the US
Why is voting rights a problem now? In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, millions of people have embraced voting in person or by mail, especially among Democrats. Spurred on by Donald Trump’s false claims about mail ballots in hopes of undoing the election, the GOP has pursued a host of new voting restrictions.
“I just don’t know how you break a rule to make a rule,” Mr. Manchin told reporters before the meeting.
The Freedom to Vote Act contains a series of proposals to establish national standards for access to ballots, with the aim of undoing the wave of new restrictions in states. It would require a minimum of 15 consecutive days of early voting and that all voters can request to vote by mail. The measure would also introduce new automatic voter registration programs and make Election Day a national holiday. It’s a more limited version of the legislation Democrats introduced early last year, but was revised to accommodate Mr. Manchin, who said the original bill was too broad and insisted on including a provision requiring voters. to provide some form of identification.
Named after Representative John Lewis, the civil rights icon who died in 2020, the measure would restore parts of the landmark voting rights law that had been weakened by Supreme Court rulings. One of the stipulations was that jurisdictions with a history of discrimination must obtain pre-approval — or “preclearance” — from the Justice Department or federal courts in Washington before changing their voting rules.
As the debate began, Democrats and Republicans took the floor to try to argue their respective cases, even with the measure’s likely defeat. Republicans echoed their deep insult at Biden’s speech in Atlanta last week, in which he compared opponents of the bill to notorious Southern racists such as Alabama’s Bull Connor and George Wallace.
Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan noted that voters in New York last year rejected proposals to make it easier to vote on ballot initiatives.
“If the Majority Leader keeps coming and shouting Republican states that restrict voting Jim Crow 2.0, will he go to Times Square and call his own voters Jim Crow 2.0?” Mr. Sullivan asked.
Democrats said Senate Republicans looked the other way as southern states tried to curb access to votes after Democrats won the presidency and the Senate majority under the 2020 voting rules instituted in some states because of the pandemic.
“We Democrats cannot sit back and let 2020 be the last free and fair election in our country,” said Hawaii Democrat Senator Mazie K. Hirono. “If we don’t protect the right to vote, we don’t have democracy. It’s that simple – that’s the reality.”
Some activists urged the Senate not to end the debate too soon and engage Republicans in a lengthy battle, noting that supporters of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 forced opponents to enforce a filibuster for nearly 60 days before it passed. was broken.
“The Senate shouldn’t spend a few days on this battle and then move on,” said Fred Wertheimer, the chairman of Democracy 21. He said Democrats should “force supporters of the state laws for voter suppression and election sabotage to participate.” take in a talking filibuster and try to justify their point of view.”