Partisan Debate Intensifies Over Voting Rights Legislation
As Democrats work to advance the For the People Act, they continue to be met with fierce opposition from the GOP
As Democrats work to bring the For the People Act to the Senate floor, Republicans are pushing back against the bill, citing it as a partisan powergrab. Source: "US Capitol" by katieharbath is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Amid the advancement of controversial election reform bills in numerous states, Democrats are pushing for the passage of S.1, or the For the People Act, a transformative bill seeking to impose a national standard for voting rights that has sparked fierce Republican criticism and is facing mounting roadblocks in the Senate.
The almost 900-page bill, which was passed in the House in early March without any Republican support, addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance and ethics while aiming to curtail state-level pushes to restrict access to the polls. With the intent of expanding both voter registration opportunities and voting access, the bill’s provisions include no-excuse absentee voting and at least 15 days of early voting, automatic voter registration and same-day registration for eligible voters. Other measures would create stricter disclosure requirements for “dark money” contributions to political groups, mandate independent redistricting to lessen the influence of gerrymandering, strengthen oversight of online political advertising to combat foreign interference and make Election Day a national holiday.
"The stakes could not be higher," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chair of the Senate Rules Committee and sponsor of the bill. "We need to take these threats to our democracy head-on with immediate action to restore Americans' confidence in our political system."
On May 11, the Senate Rules Committee held a markup session on S.1 to consider possible amendments to the bill, ending in a deadlocked 9-9, party-line vote on whether to send a version of the bill to the Senate floor. Though the party-line split prevented the measure from being passed out of committee, Senate procedures will still allow Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to ultimately bring S.1 to the floor. The tie vote after eight hours of debate highlights the firm partisan divide over how elections should be run, as all nine Republicans voted against the bill even after some GOP amendments, including one to restrict felons convicted of crimes against children to vote, had been adopted.
“Our democracy is not in crisis, and we’re not going to let one party take over our democracy under the false pretense of saving it,” said Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
While Democratic leadership say the legislation is necessary to ensure that all eligible voters have access to the polls and fortify American democracy against the backdrop of former President Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, Republicans have deemed the bill as a blatant power grab and a federal overreach of state’s rights. Republicans have complained that the bill would tip the scales in the favor of Democrats while imposing strict federal requirements on a process typically run by the states. During the markup session, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) adamantly denounced the bill as “legislation designed to ensure that Democrats never lose another election,” positing that the bill aims to ensure partisan dominance under the guise of promoting voting rights. Schumer presented the opposite view, arguing that Republicans are opposing this bill on the basis of the “big lie,” or the false claims of voter fraud that followed the 2020 election. Schumer, who has been one of the most vocal advocates for S.1, said during the session that “the big lie is spreading like a cancer among Republicans.”
In opposition to the bill, McConnell and other Senate Republicans have delineated the bill’s provisions on campaign finance laws as one of its most notable faults. Aiming to bolster transparency and decrease the influence of big money in politics, S.1 would place stricter requirements on the disclosure of campaign donations and donor names by super PACs. McConnell, who has been a vocal defender of corporate donations to political efforts, emphasized the necessity of limiting federal intervention in campaign spending, which he sees as a form of political speech.
“Regardless of who has a partisan advantage here — let’s just put that aside — is it the business of the government to supervise political speech, to decide what you can say about an issue that may be in proximity to an election?” he said during the markup session.
Among the most controversial aspects of the bill for Republicans is a provision that would allow third parties to collect and deliver voters' ballots, a practice often criticized as “ballot harvesting” by congressional Republicans. The bill permits voters to designate any person or group to return a sealed absentee ballot as long as the third-party individual or group does not receive any compensation for doing so. GOP critics of the bill claim this provision could lead to voters being pressured by party operatives, though Democrats argue that this measure will allow people who cannot get to the polls on their own to vote.
“You can simultaneously make elections fair and secure, while giving voters options that work for them,” Klobuchar said in pushing for the bill.
The legislation has captured consistent and fierce Republican opposition which makes its passage unlikely in the 50-50 Senate, as the filibuster rules which set a 60-vote threshold to overcome any objection to the bill’s advancement mean that Democrats would need to gain support from 10 Republicans to pass the legislation. With unified Republican opposition towards the bill, criticism from moderate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and a lack of sufficient backing on eliminating the filibuster, the bill faces near-impossible odds in the Senate and its prospects for passage are not favorable.