Senate Democrats unveil new voting rights bill in latest effort to bring federal rules to elections
Savannah BehrmannWASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a new elections bill that aims to protect voting rights in states and has support from its moderate wing.
The new bill – the Freedom to Vote Act – is more scaled back than previous pieces of voting rights legislation like the For the People Act, but would establish some federally mandated election rules. Its future in the Senate is threatened by Republicans, who have generally opposed federal laws that govern how states run their elections.
The latest piece of legislation would expand early voting options, voter identification requirements, access to mail-in ballots, and allow for same day registration on Election Day.
It would also battle partisan gerrymandering by requiring states to follow specific criteria for redrawing congressional districts, and giving them the option to choose how to develop those redistricting plans, including having an independent commission.
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"Following the 2020 elections in which more Americans voted than ever before, we have seen unprecedented attacks on our democracy in states across the country. These attacks demand an immediate federal response," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., chairwoman of the Committee on Rules and Administration and the bill's sponsor.
She said the legislation "will set basic national standards to make sure all Americans can cast their ballots in the way that works best for them, regardless of what zip code they live in."
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The Freedom to Vote Act is a compromise made within the Senate Democratic caucus after previous pieces of legislation got lackluster support from moderates within the party, and no support from Republicans.
Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia, has thrown his support behind the legislation, saying it "is a step in the right direction towards protecting that right for every American."
"As elected officials, we also have an obligation to restore peoples' faith in our Democracy, and I believe that the commonsense provisions in this bill – like flexible voter ID requirements – will do just that,” Manchin said.
Despite the compromise within the Democratic faction of the Senate, the bill's future with Senate Republicans is rocky.
To pass, it will need the support of at least 10 Republicans to overcome the legislative hurdle of the filibuster — a difficult feat on a such a contentious issue.
Senate Republicans have argued sweeping pieces of federal voting rights legislation are overreaching, arguing elections should be left to the states, not the federal government. A number of GOP-led states this year have imposed what Democrats argue are restrictive changes to voting.
In June, Senate Democrats failed to advance the For the People Act with a vote of 50-50, falling short of the 60 needed to overcome a GOP filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, said Tuesday that Manchin is working with Republicans to gain their support.
The new legislation would also create a federal standard for voting by mail and drop boxes – means of voting that former President Donald Trump and other GOP lawmakers attacked during the 2020 election.
The bill would ensure all voters can request a mail-in ballot and puts into place standards to ensure drop boxes are accessible to all voters.
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It would also require the removal of people from the voter rolls is done on the basis of reliable and objective evidence.
The issue of purging voter rolls has gained national attention in state-wide elections like Georgia, where Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger last month sent notices to 185,666 Georgians who haven’t had any contact with the state’s elections system for at least five years.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday election reform “is not something that the federal government has historically been involved in and for good reason."
When asked if Republicans even had an appetite for the updated bill, McConnell said Republicans "will not be supporting it.”
Democrats argue passing voting rights and election reform legislation is urgent to fight such laws like those in Georgia, and another in Texas that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law last week that would set new rules for voting by mail, and other restrictions.
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Schumersaid Tuesday he would bring up the latest voting legislation “as soon as next week.”
“Republicans’ refusal to work with us is no excuse for not getting something done,” Schumer said. “This is a good proposal, something that nobody in this chamber should oppose.”
He later stated that if Republicans do unilaterally oppose the new legislation, Democrats would "cross that bridge when we come to it."
He said the legislation is needed to reverse state-level moves such as a sweeping Texas bill, Montana ending Election Day registration, Florida limiting after-hours drop boxes and Georgia making it a crime to provide food and water to people waiting in line.
“The fact of the matter is that this legislation is critical for stopping some of the most egregious assaults against voting rights happening at the state level,” Schumer said. “No one can look at these restrictions with a straight face and say they have a legitimate purpose. They have only one goal. It is a despicable goal. It’s a nasty goal, making it harder for younger, poorer, non-white and typically Democratic voters to access the ballot.”
The Freedom to Vote Act also keeps a piece of the For the People Act that requires more political action committees and other groups to disclose donors and works to ensure single-candidate groups do not operate as campaign arms.
Contributing: Bart Jansen