I set Wednesday 15 September 2021 as the deadline for Joe Manchin to get substantive voting rights passed in the Senate, but he failed. We need to take steps to push Manchin out of the party, but I want to give him one more week to get this bill through the Senate.
I think this is a prudent step because Manchin has reached a compromise with Democratic leaders that will allow them to put a bill on the floor with the support of all Senate Democrats. See:
NBC News
Huffington Post
Yahoo News
Forbes
This is a step in the right direction, which should be rewarded.
Voting rights, and therefore whether democracy will survive, depend on Manchin’s actions in the Senate. He could sign on to filibuster reform that would guarantee this new bill, which has backing of all 50 Democratic Senators, would pass in the Senate. He is functionally the only impediment to getting the bill passed and signed into law.
No one I know believes any Republicans will sign onto the bill, never mind the ten necessary for cloture. So, unless the Senate will put aside the filibuster rules for this bill, it will die, with democracy alongside it.
The new legislation, called the Freedom to Vote Act, pulls a number of provisions from the “For the People Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act”, both of which have already passed the House. It expands voter access, boosts election integrity, and encourages civil participation. It would make Election Day a national holiday. Other provisions:
- Requires states to provide same-day registration at all polling locations by 2024, to ensure at least 15 days of early voting for federal elections, to observe standards for notifying voters about changes to polling locations, and to provide automatic registration.
- Allow the Internet to be used for voter registration and to check the accuracy of voter registration.
- Sets flexible standards for voter ID requirements.
- Cracks down on dark money and requires candidates to report offers of foreign assistance to the FBI.
- Expands access to mail-in voting.
- Improve privacy.
- Provides assistance to voters with disabilities, including accessibility.
- Addresses how the Post Office is to handle election materials, including ballots.
- Adds protections against partisan election subversion.
It would also provide funds for the states to meet these requirements.
It lacks provisions to restructure the FEC or for public campaign financing.
This piece in Huffington Post has a particularly good explanation of the bill’s provisions.
I’m planning to resume my campaign to push Sen. Manchin out of the Democratic Party next week on Thursday 23 September 2021 if no bill has passed in the Senate by then. If one is schedule for a vote in the near future after that, I’ll postpone again, but it is important to finish this now, so that we can go on in confidence to campaign for offices in 2022.