Democrats Voting Rights Bill Headed For Defeat Without GOP Support

Democrats say federal voting legislation is needed to counteract a wave of new restrictions

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Senate Democrats’ biggest and perhaps last push this year for major voting rights legislation is headed for near-certain defeat on Wednesday because of widespread opposition from Republicans.

That’s despite the Democrats’ effort to craft a compromise bill led in part by Sen. Joe Manchin, legislation that the West Virginia Democrat hoped he could use to get enough GOP votes to overcome a filibuster.

Democrats say federal voting legislation is needed to counteract a wave of new restrictions from Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country. Critics of those laws say they are making it more difficult to vote, particularly for people of color.

“Democrats are ready to have this debate right now,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday, describing the legislation as a “a bill that every Senate Democrat is united behind, enthusiastically.”

The bill would among other things establish Election Day as a national holiday, set national minimum standards for early voting and voting by mail, and create new requirements for groups not currently required to disclose their financial donors. It also includes standards for states that require voter identification, something that was a priority of Manchin.

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