Senate will vote on voting rights bills and filibuster rules change
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On Tuesday, January 18th, 2022, a message for senators to adopt voting rights legislation, sponsored by The Declaration for American Democracy can be seen at 3rd Street SW.
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After months of deliberation over where Congress must go to safeguard democracy in America, Wednesday’s Senate vote could determine the fate of the Senate’s voting rights bills.
This chamber plans to vote on Wednesday night in order to pass legislation which would allow for mail-in or early voting expansions and makes Election Day a national holiday. The proposals will be blocked by Republicans.
Democrats plan to vote for changes to Senate rules that would require a “talking filibuster” to only approve voting rights bills. The Senate would be forced to allow GOP senators to use the floor to oppose the bill rather than withdraw their support. If all senators used up their speeches – each is allowed up to two speeches, with no time limit – the chamber could pass the proposals with a simple majority.
The Senate Rules Revision would need a simple majority to pass, but it’s also likely that it will fail. Two Democrats, Sens. Senators Kyrsten Siene of Arizona, and Joe Manchin (West Virginia) have indicated that they would oppose all proposed changes to the filibuster.
Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority leader, said Wednesday, “Win, Loss, or Draw, We are Going to Vote, We Are Going to Vote,” “Especially when this issue is related to the heartbeat of democracy as voting rights.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) holds his conference after the Senate Democrats caucus meeting about voting rights and filibuster Tuesday, January 18, 2022.
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Democrats will not be able to pass the election reforms that they consider essential to maintaining ballot access, as Democrats are unlikely to move closer after GOP-led legislatures passed restrictive voting laws in Texas and Georgia last year. Supporters of voting rights legislation around the country — particularly voters of color who are expected to disproportionately feel the effects of state laws — have urged Democrats to take action before the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
The voting rights bills were supported by all 50 Democratic senators. However, they have not reached agreement as to whether or not the filibuster must be removed to enable them to pass.
Democratic leaders such as President Joe Biden have asked the party for support of the rules changes.
Now it is not clear how Democrats will move forward after the vote rights campaign fails. Some Republicans are open to changing the way that electoral votes are counted after elections to make it more difficult to reverse a result.
Changes to the Electoral Count Act are designed to respond to former President Donald Trump’s and his allies’ efforts to reverse Biden’s win in 2020 on false allegations of widespread cheating. Trump’s attempts to change state results were repeatedly rejected by courts. Trump’s allies pressured Mike Pence to take over when Congress was counting electoral votes. That is the date that Trump supporters took over the Capitol to delay the transfer. Jan. 6, 2021: Former Vice President Mike Pence assisted in the count of the electoral votes.
Pence didn’t try to overturn the presidential election result. Trump’s and his associates made an effort to reverse the presidential result. However, there was the possibility of future officials trying to overthrow the election.
Republicans oppose any legislation which would increase federal oversight of how the states conduct elections. A number of Republicans have warned against the possibility that the Senate’s ability to abolish the filibuster could impact its functioning for many years.
Mitch McConnell (Senate Minority Leader) stated that “Today, the Senate will have to stop this factional frenzy damaging our democracy damaging the center and damaging my republic forever,” Wednesday.
Democrats are going to push legislation that includes two voting rights bills: the Freedom to Vote Act (or John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act).
This proposal expands early and absentee voting, and makes automatic voter registration the national standard. It aims to simplify compliance with state voter ID laws. The plan also restores the right of incarcerated citizens to vote following their sentence ends.
This would make Election Day a national holiday.
A second bill is named in honor of the former civil rights activist. It aims at restoring parts of the Voting right Act of 1965, which was deemed invalid by the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision. Shelby County, v. Holder, invalidated an important part of the law that requires certain jurisdictions to have the approval of the Justice Department prior to changing voting rules.
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