Senate Democrats 'encouraged' on voting rights bill, McConnell opposed
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[June 18, 2021]
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Democrats
scrambled to unite around a sweeping election reform bill they hope to
begin debating next week, in the face of Republican opposition and moves
by several states to pass laws placing new restrictions on voting.
Several Democrats expressed optimism over a compromise plan proposed by
moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, details of which were released
on Wednesday.
"I am encouraged by these recent developments," Senator Raphael Warnock
of Georgia told reporters. Georgia is one of a half-dozen U.S. states
that passed tough new controls on voting procedures
https://www.reuters.com/
world/us/republicans-erect-voting-barriers-across-number-politically-crucial-us-states-2021-06-15
this year.
Warnock said Manchin's ideas were "very significant" because they could
unite the 48 Senate Democrats and two independents, boosting chances for
passing a bill.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/18/images/ads/current/graue_preowned_061421.png)
It was not yet clear whether any Republicans would climb aboard,
however. Under normal Senate rules, 60 votes are needed in the
100-member chamber to pass any measure.
A crucial test vote will be held on Tuesday on whatever bill Democrats
agree upon in the next few days, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
told reporters.
Democrats hope to get at least all of their 50 caucus members to vote
yes on opening debate. That, however, would be 10 short of the senators
needed to clear a first hurdle.
But 50 would demonstrate Democratic unity on one of their highest
legislative priorities and could even encourage more in their party to
join a move to scrap or alter the Senate's rule requiring the 60-vote
threshold to advance bills.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday rejected the idea
of compromise, saying "states, not the federal government, should decide
how to run their own elections."
Democrats argue that they also support state-run elections, but with
minimum federal standards.
Republican-controlled state legislatures say new restrictions on voting
are needed to improve election security following former President
Donald Trump's repeated claims that his election defeat was the result
of widespread fraud.
Although multiple courts, state election officials and Trump's own
administration have rejected the claims as untrue and Trump has not
produced any evidence, a sizable number of Republican voters believe him
anyway, polls show.
Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who chairs a Senate committee overseeing
election procedures in the United States, called Manchin's compromise "a
good faith effort."
She stopped short of embracing it and instead said, "We'll continue to
work through his ideas."
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![](../images/061821PIX/news_h13.jpg)
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) takes part in a
news conference held by Republican senators about the "H.R.1 - For
the People Act" bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 17,
2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
But she noted that Manchin's plan contains key
elements in a bill that has been pushed by Democratic leaders,
including making "dark money" campaign contributions public and
requiring that states give voters at least two weeks to cast their
ballots in presidential and congressional elections.
Republican Senator Mike Lee said he believed the voting rights bill
would hurt his party's electoral chances: "This bill isn't about
strengthening democracy. This bill is about strengthening
Democrats."
The issue is urgent for Democrats, who hold razor-thin majorities in
both houses of Congress after the 2020 elections. History and a
once-a-decade redistricting process, based on the 2020 U.S. Census,
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.
'UNDER ASSAULT'
The flurry of state initiatives restricting voting is playing out in
presidential election swing states, 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."
Senate Democrats' drive for passage of the For the People bill
approved by the House of Representatives in March hit a wall with
Manchin's opposition.
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.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/18/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_072017.png)
Democrats' backup plan could be an expanded version of another bill,
named after the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis,
that would omit some of the larger bill's more sweeping changes,
such as having commissions redraw congressional districts.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan, additional reporting by David Morgan
and Makini Brice; Editing by Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman, Sonya
Hepinstall and Jonathan Oatis)
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