Voting Rights Measure Likely Doomed In US Senate

The US Senate on Tuesday takes up the flashpoint issue of voting rights in America -- with Democrats and Republicans locked in battle over who gets to vote and how, in the wake of a 2020 election marred by Donald Trump's baseless allegations of fraud

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2021 ) :The US Senate on Tuesday takes up the flashpoint issue of voting rights in America -- with Democrats and Republicans locked in battle over who gets to vote and how, in the wake of a 2020 election marred by Donald Trump's baseless allegations of fraud.

The outcome on Tuesday is in little doubt: Republicans are expected to block a sweeping package which would amount to the most expansive Federal election reform in decades.

But Democrats are bringing the "For the People Act" to the floor as a test vote, in reaction to controversial efforts by Republicans to enact strict new voting laws in dozens of states.

President Joe Biden's Democrats have introduced a historic bill aimed at ensuring Americans can vote by mail, have full access to early voting and use of ballot drop boxes.

The bill, which also reforms campaign finance laws and attempts to thwart gerrymandering, or the partisan redrawing of district lines, passed the House of Representatives on a party line vote.

But it appears doomed in the Senate, where Republicans are united against the measure, ensuring the issue remains a political flashpoint into the 2022 midterm elections and beyond.

Democrats control the 50-50 Senate. But even if all Democrats support it -- and there are moderate holdouts who have proposed a more watered down version -- the bill would fall short of the 60 votes needed to move it forward.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, highlighting what he called "a wildfire of Republican voter suppression laws sweeping across the country," called out his GOP rivals for seeking "blatant" partisan electoral advantage.

Schumer said that Republicans, keenly aware that Trump feels mail-in voting and other expansive voting rules led to his defeat, "are deliberately targeting all the ways that younger, poorer, non-white and typically Democratic voters access the ballot.

" The Senate vote is set for 5:30 pm (1930 GMT) Even if it fails as expected, Democrats hope to claim a moral victory and highlight Republican opposition to basic democratic principles of voting rights for all.

The White House has acknowledged the vote will fail, but said it was seeking unanimity among Democrats, particularly after Senate Democrat Joe Manchin introduced a compromise package that he believes can win over some Republicans.

"What we are measuring, I think, is the Democratic Party united. We weren't as of a couple of weeks ago," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

If anything, Psaki said the vote could "prompt a new conversation about the path forward" in Congress.

Republicans though remained firmly against the Democratic effort.

Their bill is a "transparently partisan plan to tilt every election in America permanently in their favor," said top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell in a floor speech before the vote.

"It's a recipe for undermining confidence in our elections, remaking our entire system of government to suit the preferences of one far end of the political spectrum." Biden has warned that American democracy is under "assault" from efforts by Republican state legislatures to end no-excuse mail-in voting, curtail early voting, restrict the use of drop boxes and prevent the use of student ID as a form of identification at the polls.

But progressive activists are complaining that Biden is not doing enough.

"Is saving democracy a priority for this Administration or not? Right-wing zealots are systematically dismantling our democratic institutions," Ezra Levin, co-executive director of progressive election group Indivisible, said Monday on Twitter.

"It's time for the President to get off the sidelines and into the game, or we're all going to lose."