Senate Democrats scrambled on Thursday to rally behind a broad election reform bill ahead of a vote next week, with a key member of their caucus signaling a willingness to back them up 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 vote on the For the People Act on Tuesday.
“Republican state legislatures are carrying out the most sweeping assault on the right to vote since Jim Crow,” Schumer said. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, fourteen states have passed restrictive voting laws this year, and nearly 400 bills have been filed in 48 states.
The bill is a comprehensive election reform bill that aims to increase voter access to ballots through automatic registration, increased absentee ballots, and early voting – all hallmarks of the pandemic – as well as broaden campaign finance disclosures, limit partisan gerrymandering, and institute federally-financed campaigns.
Republicans, on the other hand, say they intend to derail the bill, which one Republican senator dubbed “the mother of all power grabs.”
“The Senate should and will reject this bill,” said Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a former Missouri secretary of state and top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees election law.
Republicans are opposed to any efforts to federalize elections, claiming that the bill would support “ballot harvesting,” suppress First Amendment rights in campaign finance reforms, and, more broadly, tilt future elections to Democrats by creating a partisan Federal Election Commission. Despite the bill’s expected failure on Tuesday, Democrats said caucus unity was an important symbolic rebuke to red state election law changes that critics say reduce turnout among Democratic voters.
That unity became more likely this week when Sen. Joe Manchin, the only Democrat who has opposed the legislation, unveiled a list of amendments on Wednesday that he said could earn his vote.
Some of the items on Manchin’s list are supported by his party, such as automatic voter registration and increased campaign finance disclosure. However, his list includes measures that his colleagues have previously criticized, such as allowing modified voter roll purges and requiring a voter ID.
Nonetheless, the West Virginia Democrat received critical support on Thursday. Fair Fight’s Stacey Abrams endorsed the changes, which were denounced by McConnell, who declared his opposition to them.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who has been at the forefront of civil rights activism, expressed optimism.
Manchin’s changes would have to be incorporated into the measure under consideration Tuesday, and Manchin has not stated how he plans to vote on the procedural measure. Nonetheless, his colleagues were convinced that Manchin was on board after a special closed-door lunch on Thursday. The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Illinois’s Dick Durbin, emphasized the importance of a united Democratic front.
“What is going on in America cannot be ignored. And even if the recorded vote does not go in our favor – which I hope it does – members must be on the record. We are living through an unprecedented period of voter suppression in modern history, and if Republicans want to be complicit, that is their choice, but they should be open about it ” he stated.
The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Illinois’s Dick Durbin, emphasized the importance of a united Democratic front.
“What is going on in America cannot be ignored. And even if the recorded vote does not go in our favor – which I hope it does – members must be on the record. We are living through an unprecedented period of voter suppression in modern history, and if Republicans want to be complicit, that is their choice, but they should be open about it ” he stated.
