Voting legislation blocked — again — in Senate as Republicans unite for filibuster
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Senate Republicans filibustered a major voting bill Wednesday that would allow automatic and same-day voter registration and make Election Day a holiday.
The 49-51 vote on the procedural motion was short of the 60 needed to advance the legislation to the next stage, marking the second time this year that Republicans have prevented a Democratic-backed voting bill from moving forward.
The measure, known as the Freedom to Vote Act, had full Democratic support Wednesday after the party scaled back an earlier, more expansive bill to win the backing of centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. All 50 Democratic-voting senators backed the bill, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., changed his vote to “no” to allow him to request another vote in the future, a common procedural maneuver.
Schumer had said the bill was a “balanced” and “common sense” proposal to protect the right to vote from restrictive state laws, including those inspired by former President Donald Trump’s false claims about a stolen election.
“Across the country, the big lie — the big lie — has spread like a cancer,” Schumer said Wednesday before the vote. “The Freedom to Vote Act would provide long overdue remedies for all these concerns.”
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