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Democracy 'on the line,' Senate Democrats race to unite on voting rights

[June 17, 2021] By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats scrambled to unite around a sweeping election reform bill that they aim to bring to a vote next week, in the face of Republican opposition and state moves to pass laws placing new restrictions on voting.

Following a presidential election that saw a record 155 million Americans cast ballots, Democrats say action is necessary to protect democracy. Republican-controlled legislatures in six competitive states have passed bills that voting rights advocates have denounced as partisan power grabs.

The timing is critical for Democrats, who hold razor-thin majorities in both houses of Congress. History and an upcoming once-a-decade redistricting process favor Republicans' chances of recapturing control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.

"If we don't get this bill passed, our democratic system is on the line. Voting is fundamental," said Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Republicans in the Senate have united against the effort, arguing that the federal government should leave election administration to the states. Lawmakers backing the new state restrictions on voting have justified their moves by citing former President Donald Trump's repeated false claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud.

"There will not be a single Republican who will support this," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. He dismissed the bill as "a partisan effort by the majority to take over at the federal level how we conduct all of America's elections."

Multiple courts, state election officials and Trump's own government rejected Trump's false claims of election fraud, which also sparked the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters that left five dead.

"I've never seen .... such an outward assault on voting rights. I mean just a flat assault. I didn't anticipate that," Democratic President Joe Biden told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday.

Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead a national charge aimed at protecting voting rights.

VOTING RIGHTS 'UNDER ASSAULT'

Senate Democrats' first preference would be to pass a version of the "For the People" bill approved by the House of Representatives in March. That sweeping measure would block many of the restrictions imposed by new state laws and require states to turn over the task of redrawing congressional districts to independent commissions. It also would impose new controls on campaign contributions, including making them more transparent.

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Voting rights activists gather during a protest against Texas legislators who are advancing a slew of new voting restrictions in Austin, Texas, U.S., May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Mikala Compton/File Photo

The flurry of state initiatives, launched following Trump's defeat, is playing out in presidential election battlegrounds including Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona.

"We've been tracking voting legislation for well over a decade and we have not seen a push this aggressive and intense before," said Wendy Weiser, an elections expert at the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice. "Voting rights are under assault."

But the "For the People" measure does not enjoy full Democratic support in the 50-50 Senate. Moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin opposes it.

Democrats' backup plan would be an expanded version of another voting rights bill, named after the late civil rights leader Representative John Lewis, that would omit some of the larger bill's more sweeping changes, including on campaign funding.

Manchin, a former West Virginia state election official, has proposed a list of revisions including requiring voters to prove their identities, which some Democrats argue can discourage turnout.

"I'm not confident" that an acceptable compromise will emerge, Manchin said.

If Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could nail down all 48 Democrats, including Manchin, and the two independents who caucus with Democrats, he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi then would face some decisions.

Those 50 Senate votes could propel a second round of negotiations. Or Democrats could signal they might finally be ready to use their majority powers to alter the chamber's rules. That would entail scrapping the supermajority requirement for passing this major bill, thus leaving Republicans powerless.

But even that is a long-shot given Manchin's opposition to changing the "filibuster" rule.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Makini Brice; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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