Senate Democrats fail to advance voting rights legislation and changes to filibuster
Democrats put renewed focus on voting rights: What happened in 2021, and where do proposals stand now?
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named for the late Georgia Democratic representative and civil rights icon, would restore Justice Department review of changes in election law in states with a history of discrimination.
The Freedom to Vote Act would create a federal standard for voting by mail and drop boxes – means of voting that former President Donald Trump and some Republican lawmakers attacked during the 2020 election. The legislation would also expand early voting options and access to mail-in ballots; curb large, anonymous political contributions known as dark money; and allow for same-day voter registration on Election Day.
“The purpose of the Freedom to Vote Act is to give every eligible American more choices about how and when to cast a ballot, no matter where you live, no matter which state or in which zip code, no matter your political party preference,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Voting rights and election reform: Senate Republicans block latest legislation
However, in order to pass the legislation, 10 Senate Republicans would have needed to join all 50 Democratic voting senators to bypass the filibuster.
Republicans have consistently argued elections should be left up to the states and that federal legislation would violate the Constitution and unfairly tilt elections toward Democrats.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called it a “partisan bill to take over the nation’s elections,” during the Senate floor debate.
Blocked from bringing the bill to the floor for a vote on passage, Democratic leaders then put forth a vote to change the filibusterto advance the bill.Most Democratic senators and President Joe Biden threw their support behind the rule change.
More:Sen. Mark Kelly supports change to Senate’s filibuster rule for voting-rights legislation
‘Let the majority prevail’: Biden backs filibuster change to pass voting rights in Atlanta speech
Democrats argue urgent action on voting rights is needed because Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud helped spur the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol last year as well as a raft of laws in nearly 20 states restricting voter access or participation.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan policy group affiliated with the New York University School of Law, in 2021 at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting.
More:What is the filibuster? A look at the Senate’s consequential quirk and debate on its future
Democrats needed a unified caucus, or 51 votes with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the 50-50 Senate, to change the Senate rule that preserves the filibuster.
Sinema of Arizona and Manchin of West Virginia stated repeatedly prior to the vote on the rule change they support the decades-old Senate rule, arguing that the filibuster is important to protecting the minority party. They have remained unmoved on their position despite pressure from their party.
Sinema delivered a passionate speech from the Senate floor minutes before Biden arrived on Capitol Hill last week to talk to the caucus about voting rights and the filibuster. She said eliminating the filibuster would make the Senate more partisan and “would worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country.”
More:Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin defend filibuster, likely crushing Biden’s hopes of passing voting rights bill
Senate Democratic leaders worked behind the scenes to come up with a scenario to get Sinema and Manchin on board and put forth changes to the Senate rules to revert back to a “talking filibuster”.
A talking filibuster would require senators who object to legislation to be physically present and debate a bill and would limit the time of debate before the chamber would move on to final passage with a simple majority. Currently, a senator can keep a bill from reaching the floor without being present to lodge an objection.
“If Republicans block cloture on legislation before us, I will put forward a proposal to change the rules to allow for a talking filibuster on this legislation as recommended by a number of our colleagues who’ve been working on this reform for a long time,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday, reiterating the rule change would be used just for voting rights.
Senators debated the issue late Wednesday night, though its chances of success seemed dim from the start as Harris, who would be a tie breaker if Manchin and Sinema were on board to give Democrats 50 votes, left the Capitol before lawmakers began.
She told reporters as she left the building that “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 is non negotiable.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said during the debate, “Our proposal is to restore a talking filibuster… and to make a simple change, to make it public rather than secret so that our colleagues and the American public can understand and then hold us accountable for our action.”
The vote failed 48-52 with Manchin and Sinema joining all Republicans.
Manchin spoke earlier from the Senate floor during the debate on the voting rights legislation Wednesday, reiterating his support for the filibuster, saying that eliminating it, even just for voting rights, would “be the easy way out.”
“It wasn’t meant to be easy. I cannot support such a perilous course for this nation when elected leaders are sent to Washington to unite our country, not to divide our country,” he said. “We’re called the United States, not the divided states. And putting politics and party aside is what we’re supposed to do. It’s time that we do the hard work to forge a difficult compromise that can stand the test of time.”