Schumer would consider GOP ‘changes’ to new voter legislation

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The top Senate Democrat said on Tuesday that he will consider GOP changes to new voting legislation in order to win enough Republican votes to pass the bill.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised new voting legislation authored by a group of liberal and centrist Democrats that would require minimal voter identification at the polls, allow same-day voter registration, and would make Election Day a national holiday, along with other big changes, including an end to partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts.

The measure faces a GOP filibuster in the Senate unless Democrats can round up the support of at least 10 Republicans.

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Schumer suggested Tuesday he’s willing to compromise by soliciting input from GOP lawmakers, who so far have had no role in writing the legislation.

The New York Democrat said he assigned the task to Sen. Joe Manchin, a key centrist from West Virginia.

Schumer said Manchin is “working with Republicans to secure support for the bill, and we look forward to hearing what changes they might make on the legislation.”

So far, Republicans have nearly unanimously rejected voter legislation authored by Democrats. It appears unlikely Democrats can win the backing of 10 Republicans unless major changes are made to the latest measure.

One Republican, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said she backs a voter bill written last year and named after the late Rep. John Lewis.

The House passed an updated version of that bill earlier this year that pushed the legislation further to the left and also faces a likely GOP filibuster in the Senate.

The latest Senate bill is called the Freedom to Vote Act, and it is likely to draw strong GOP opposition.

While the measure calls for voter identification, which Republicans support, it would loosen the terms for what kinds of identification would qualify.

The measure also incorporates some of the language in a much broader voter and election overhaul bill Republicans staunchly oppose. Those provisions include new early voting requirements, voting by mail, new redistricting rules to eliminate partisan-drawn lines, and banning anonymous donors to nonprofit political groups.

It would also make Election Day a national holiday and permit same-day voter registration.

Much of the bill is aimed at blocking new voter integrity laws passed recently across the nation in states including Texas, Montana, and Florida.

Those states changed voter laws in an effort to curb voter fraud, but on Tuesday, Schumer called the laws “despicable” and said the states “have one goal. … They are trying to stop the people who didn’t vote for them from voting.”

Democrats say those new rules will reduce access to the polls and limit voter participation overall.

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Schumer is under intense pressure from liberal groups to pass the new voter laws ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, in which Democrats are clinging to majorities in both the House and Senate.

Schumer said Monday the Senate could take up the new voter legislation as early as next week but on Tuesday said he’d bring it up “soon.”

Without any GOP support, Democrats can only demonstrate they have unanimous support within their own party to support the new voter bill and could pass it by eliminating the filibuster at some point. However, Manchin and a handful of other Democrats do not back eliminating the 60-vote threshold.

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