Senate Democrats are pushing forward legislation for a major overhaul of U.S. elections, setting a collision course with Republicans who blocked the bill when they ran the chamber.
Liberal advocates are pressuring Democrats to get the election changes across the finish line this time — even if that means blowing up Senate rules to pass it in a party-line vote.
“We are going to be running this very large campaign to make sure senators — both Republicans and Democrats — are hearing how much this bill matters to their constituents,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United and Let America Vote. “We have one simple goal: Get this bill passed.”
House Democrats earlier this month passed the nearly 800-page bill known as the For the People Act. It would set national standards for elections by requiring states to have Election Day voter registration and early voting for 15 days.
It would limit money in politics, end partisan gerrymandering and establish new ethics rules.
The bill will now get a hearing in the Senate next week.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer has vowed to put it to a vote, though it would be next to impossible to secure the 10 Republican votes needed for the bill to survive.
Republicans say the bill is an attempt to nationalize elections and impose rules that benefit Democratic candidates or invite ballot fraud. They called it a “Democrat Politician Protection Act.”
“This is a power grab. It’s that simple. They want to install a permanent partisan majority in the United States when it comes to voting in elections,” said Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican.
To boost the legislation, a coalition of progressive groups are claiming the legislation has widespread bipartisan support to try to pressure Republicans to get on board.
They partnered with the Global Strategy Group to conduct a survey last month of 1,271 voters in battleground states. The data released Tuesday revealed 83% of respondents supported the For the People Act while only 10 percent did not. The survey has a 2.7% margin of error.
Ms. Mueller said there’s an “urgency” for Democrats to get this done because Republican majorities in state legislatures are passing legislation in swing states aimed at tightening election laws.
Robert Hoffman, democracy deputy director at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the For the People Act would create automatic voter registration and online voter registration in states that do not currently allow it. The national legislation would also prevent a state from significantly limiting early voting.
“It sets a floor for what is available in states,” he said.
With the Senate being split evenly 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, it’s unlikely a floor vote on the legislation would pass. A bill needs 60 votes to become law and overcome a filibuster, and thus far 10 GOP senators have not endorsed the major election overhaul.
Liberal activists said Democrats could push to change procedural rules and do away with the 60 vote filibuster to get the legislation passed. But that plan runs into a hurdle with moderate Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, who has said he will not support doing away with it to ensure bipartisan support.
“You cannot get rid of the filibuster unless your intention is to destroy the Senate,” Mr. Manchin said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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