Senate backers of new voting rights bill push for swift passage

Hours after introducing a pared-down voting rights bill, Democratic senators in support of the legislation called for Senate action in the coming weeks.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined voting rights groups outside the Capitol in an effort to rally support for the measure, which faces an uphill battle to win over the 10 Republicans needed to avoid a filibuster.

“We will take our democracy back again from those who are trying to take away people’s constitutional rights to vote,” Klobuchar said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference organized by a coalition of voting rights groups known as the Declaration for American Democracy.

The legislation, known as the Freedom to Vote Act, includes many of the policy priorities Democrats packed in the For the People Act that was blocked by Senate Republicans earlier this year.

The new bill has support from numerous Democrats including moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is one of the lead co-sponsors, along with other caucus members like Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

Merkley said the bill would have the backing of all 50 caucus members.

The measure would give all voters access to a minimum of 15 early voting days and same-day registration. It also would make Election Day a federal holiday.

Additionally, it would require states to have automatic voter registration and restore the right to vote to Americans with felony convictions upon completion of their prison sentence.

States would be prohibited from gerrymandering congressional districts with the intent of “materially favoring or disfavoring any political party,” according to the bill text.

In addition to the Freedom to Vote Act, Democrats are also hoping for Senate passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that passed the House before the summer recess.

“We need both,” Padilla said on Tuesday.

Democrats argue the bills are necessary to combat new voting laws at the state level. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 30 laws across 18 states have been passed this year that restrict access to the ballot box.

Democrats say the wave of voting restrictions stem largely from what they call former President Trump’s “big lie” — the repeated false claim that widespread voter fraud cost him the election in November.

Merkley on Tuesday said his goal is to get the Freedom to Vote Act passed within the next six weeks, though finding the 10 GOP votes needed to overcome the Senate filibuster will be a steep challenge for Democrats.

Many Republican lawmakers have said the new state-level bills are needed to bolster election integrity. They’ve also argued that Democrats’ proposed voting rights bills are a partisan attempt to federalize elections.

While nixing the filibuster or creating an exception for voting rights legislation would otherwise be an option for Senate Democrats to sidestep GOP opposition, Manchin and other moderates such as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) oppose any kind of filibuster reform.