Senate Republicans again blocked voting rights legislation on Wednesday, setting up Democratic-led effort to change the filibuster rules as a way to move the bills forward.A parade of Senate Democrats gave impassioned speeches on the Senate floor to highlight the need for the legislation to counter GOP-led moves to restrict voting in a number of states.The vote, 49-51, was short of the 60 necessary under filibuster rules to end debate and advance the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) switched his vote at the last minute, a procedural maneuver so that the legislation could be brought up again.Schumer planned schedule a vote to change the rules to a “talking” filibuster, making it much more difficult to block legislation.
But Democrats don’t have enough votes to make such a move, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) opposing the changes and all Republicans likely against it.In her remarks to the Senate, Sen.
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) cited the rollback of same-day voter registration in Montana and voting restrictions passed in Georgia.“For every one of these laws passed, in 19 states, it has been by a simple majority,” she said.The Freedom to Vote Act: The more sweeping of the two bills would establish early vote requirements and vote-by-mail standards; protect local election officials from removal for political reasons; ban gerrymandering; create automatic voter registration standards; increase campaign finance disclosure; and mandate post election audits.
Read more on deadline.com