Voting rights advocates say Republican-led states are passing laws making it more difficult for Black Americans and others to vote by consolidating polling locations.
Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights groups argued is vital for protecting democracy has been blocked by a Republican filibuster –– a setback for President Joe Biden and his party after a raw, emotional debate.
Democrats were poised to immediately pivot to voting on a Senate rules change as a way to overcome the filibuster and approve the bill with a simple majority.
But the rules change was also headed toward defeat, as Biden has been unable to persuade two holdout senators in his own party, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, to change the Senate procedures for this one bill.
"This is not just another routine day in the Senate, this is a moral moment," said Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga on Wednesday.
The initial vote was 49-51, short of the 60 votes needed to advance over the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted no for procedural reasons so Democrats can revisit the legislation.
The night-time voting capped a day of piercing debate that carried echoes of an earlier era when the Senate filibuster was deployed in lengthy speeches by opponents of civil rights legislation.
READ MORE: Biden backs Senate rule change to pass minority voting rights bills
Republicans making it difficult for Black Americans to vote?
Voting rights advocates are warning that Republican-led states nationwide are passing laws making it more difficult for Black Americans and others to vote by consolidating polling locations, requiring certain types of identification and ordering other changes.
Vice President Kamala Harris presided, able to cast a potentially tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 Senate.
Democrats decided to press ahead despite the potential for high-stakes defeat at a tumultuous time for Biden and his party.
Biden is marking his first year in office with his priorities stalling out in the face of solid Republican opposition and the Democrats’ inability to unite around their own goals. But the Democrats wanted to force senators on the record — even their own party's holdouts — to show voters where they stand.
Sinema and Manchin have withstood an onslaught of criticism from Black leaders and civil rights organisations, and they risk further political fallout as other groups and even their own colleagues threaten to yank campaign support.
The Democrats' bill, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, would make Election Day a national holiday, ensure access to early voting and mail-in ballots — which have become especially popular during the Covid-19 pandemic — and enable the Justice Department to intervene in states with a history of voter interference, among other changes. It has passed the House.
READ MORE: Biden sees US democracy threatened by Republican 'subversion'
Manchin, Sinema stick to their stand
Both Manchin and Sinema say they support the legislation but are unwilling to change Senate rules.
With a 50-50 split, Democrats have a narrow Senate majority — Harris can break a tie — but they lack the 60 votes needed to overcome the GOP filibuster.
Instead, Schumer put forward a more specific rules change for a "talking filibuster" on this one bill. It would require senators to stand at their desks and exhaust the debate before holding a simple majority vote, rather than the current practice that simply allows senators to privately signal their objections.
But even that is expected to fail because Manchin and Sinema have said they are unwilling to change the rules on a party-line vote by Democrats alone.
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