Samuel Case, FISM News
Senate Republicans filibustered the Democrats’ attempts to push a sweeping voting rights bill, called the Freedom to Vote act, on Wednesday. 51 Senators voted not to end debate, failing to reach the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to a final vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined the GOP caucus in voting “no” in order to be able to bring the bill back for a vote later.
FISM News previously reported that this bill “would provide more opportunities for early and mail-in voting and allow people to register to vote on Election Day, as well as establish federal criteria for redistricting.”
Following the vote, Schumer ridiculed Republicans for their “implicit endorsement of the horrid new voter suppression and election subversion laws pushed in conservative states across the country,” referring to election integrity bills passed in several red states following the 2020 presidential election.
The Freedom to Vote Act contains many of the same measures as the For the People Act, which are both part of an attempt by Democrats to federalize elections in an attempt to undercut election security bills in Republican states.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has called the new voting bill a “relabeling” of “the sweeping, partisan, federal takeover of our nation’s elections that [Democrats] have wanted to pass since they took power.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has mockingly referred to the For the People Act as the “Corrupt Politicians Act,” calling it a “brazen power grab” by Senate Democrats.
The ‘Corrupt Politicians Act’ is the most dangerous legislation we’ve considered in the Senate in the nine years I’ve served in this body. It’s an attempt by Senate Democrats at a brazen power grab. It’s an attempt by Democrats to federalize elections and to ensure that Democrats won’t lose control for the next 100 years.
Following Wednesday’s failed vote, Democrats renewed their calls to break the filibuster. However, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, whose votes would be needed to end the 50 vote threshold, firmly oppose the idea.