Voting rights groups continued to call for eliminating the filibuster on Tuesday immediately after Democrats unveiled new, compromise voting rights legislation.
The groups said they support the new bill, which includes significant reforms, like 15 guaranteed days of early voting, protections against subversion for local election officials, required vote-by-mail, and same-day registration.
But their focus on the filibuster reflects a widely-accepted reality in Washington – as long as the filibuster is in place, the bill is likely dead on arrival in the US Senate. Getting 10 Republicans to even support a compromise measure, crafted with significant input from Senator Joe Manchin, is a longshot.
Sean Eldridge
(@SeanEldridge)The #FreedomToVoteAct is an historic opportunity to pass national standards for voting access and combat Republican voter suppression.
Now the filibuster is the only thing standing in our way.
It’s time for senators to put the freedom to vote ahead of the Jim Crow filibuster.
“Now that it appears that all 50 Democrats are on board with a bill to protect our freedom to vote, it’s time to get all 50 Democrats on board with reforming the filibuster to get it passed,” Sean Eldridge, the founder and president of Stand Up America, which supports the bill.
“The Senate must do whatever it takes to pass this bill immediately to ensure everyone has a say in our democracy, not just corporate interests and big donors. It cannot let outdated procedures stand in the way. We will continue the fight until the job is done,” said Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United and Let America Vote, which also supports the legislation.
Manchin, a key Democrat who does not support getting rid of the filibuster, has indicated he wants to keep the senate rule in place for now.
“The filibuster is permanent,” Manchin said on Monday, according to CNN.
Other Democrats, including Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, also support keeping the filibuster in place. Joe Biden, who long supported the filibuster, has said recently that he is prepared to pressure Democrats to get rid of the practice to pass federal voting reform.