People
protest
for
voting
rights
in
Lafayette
Park
outside
of the
White
House in
Washington,
U.S.,
October
5, 2021.
(REUTERS/Leah
Millis) |
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Senate
Minority
Leader
Mitch
McConnell,
R-Ky.,
joined
at left
by
Minority
Whip
John
Thune,
R-S.D.,
speaks
to
reporters
after a
Republican
strategy
meeting
at the
Capitol
in
Washington,
Tuesday,
Oct. 19,
2021.
(AP
Photo/J.
Scott
Applewhite) |
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US
Senate
Republicans
block
voting
rights
bill as
Democrats'
patience
wears
thin
reuters.com
WASHINGTON
- A bill
aimed at
thwarting
restrictive
new
voting
laws
enacted
in
Republican-led
states
failed
to
advance
in the
U.S.
Senate
on
Wednesday,
as
Republican
lawmakers
blocked
a
Democratic
effort
to begin
debating
the
measure.
It was
the
third
time
this
year
Senate
Democrats
tried to
advance
a voting
rights
bill in
reaction
to new
state
balloting
restrictions
that
were
fueled
by
Donald
Trump's
false
claims
of a
stolen
2020
presidential
election.
Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer
said it
would
not be
the last
time.
"The
fight to
protect
our
democracy
is far
from
over,"
he said.
While he
did not
lay out
specific
steps to
possibly
alter
the
Senate's
"filibuster"
rule
that
gives
the
minority
party
the
power to
block
legislation,
he
hinted
at doing
so.
He
complained
that
Wednesday's
vote was
"not how
the
Senate
is
supposed
to
work,"
adding:
"Voting
rights
is not
like
other
issues
we deal
with in
this
chamber.
It's
about
protecting
the very
soul of
this
nation."
Some
senators
have
been
urging a
carve-out
to
exempt
the
voting
rights
bill
from the
filibuster,
which
requires
60 of
100
senators
to agree
on most
legislation.
All 50
Senate
Republicans
voted to
block
the
measure,
with
party
leaders
saying
it was
an
attempt
to wrest
control
of
voting
rules
from the
states.
The bill
would
set
broad
federal
standards
for how
states
conduct
elections,
including
ensuring
all
qualified
voters
can
request
mail-in
ballots.
It also
aims to
expand
voter
turnout
by
making
Election
Day a
federal
holiday
and
would
outlaw
partisan
drawing
of
congressional
districts,
known as
"gerrymandering,"
that
both
parties
have
engaged
in for
decades.
On
Tuesday,
Senator
Angus
King, an
independent
who
aligns
with
Democrats,
told
reporters
that if
Republicans
again
blocked
the
bill,
"we
would
either
have to
figure
out a
rule
change
or we
have to
try to
have
discussions
toward a
compromise
solution."
Democratic
President
Joe
Biden, a
former
senator,
has
voiced
objections
to
altering
or
abandoning
the
filibuster,
although
he
suggested
he was
open to
considering
it
during
the
recent
showdown
over
hiking
the debt
ceiling.
There
are
several
reform
ideas
percolating
that
could
stop
short of
a ban on
legislative
filibusters.
Those
could
include
the
exemption
just for
voting
rights
bills,
limiting
the
number
of
filibusters
against
any one
bill, or
forcing
those
waging a
filibuster
to
remain
standing
and
speaking
on the
Senate
floor
until
one side
relents.
Moderate
Democratic
Senators
Joe
Manchin
and
Kyrsten
Sinema
voted to
advance
the bill
and
Manchin
helped
draft
its
language,
along
with
fellow
Democrat
Amy
Klobuchar.
In the
past,
Manchin
and
Sinema
have
voiced
objections
to
ending
the
filibuster,
making
it
unclear
whether
Schumer
would
have the
votes
needed
to alter
the
rule.
SLEW OF
STATE
LAWS
At least
19
states
have
enacted
30 laws
restricting
voting
access
this
year,
according
to the
Brennan
Center
for
Justice
at the
New York
University
School
of Law,
following
false
claims
by
Trump,
the
Republican
former
president,
that he
lost the
2020
election
to Biden
because
of
widespread
voting
fraud.
Democrats
and
voting
rights
advocates
denounce
the
measures
as
partisan
power
grabs
that
will
make it
harder
for
Black
and
Hispanic
voters -
important
voting
blocs
for
Democrats
- to
cast
ballots.
Senate
Republican
leader
Mitch
McConnell
rejected
Democrats'
contention
that the
latest
election
reform
bill was
a
compromise
following
the
failure
of a
more
sweeping
proposal
earlier
this
year.
“This
latest
umpteenth
iteration
is only
a
compromise
in the
sense
that the
left and
the far
left
argued
among
themselves
about
exactly
how much
power to
grab in
which
areas,"
McConnell
said in
a Senate
floor
speech.
Since
leaving
office,
Trump
has
continued
to
repeat
his
false
election
fraud
allegations.
Multiple
courts,
state
election
officials
and
members
of
Trump's
own
administration
rejected
his
claims.
Reporting
by
Richard
Cowan;
Editing
by Scott
Malone
and
Peter
Cooney
Our
Standards:
The
Thomson
Reuters
Trust
Principles.
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