Republicans condemn election reform bill as an 'extreme power grab'

U.S. Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block the Democrat-backed “For the People Act” — an election reform bill — Tuesday in Washington.

Pennsylvania lawmakers voiced opinions on the legislation ahead of a test vote needed to begin debate on the bill in the Senate.

“This would be the most egregious disenfranchisement of voters,” U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, said in a roughly 15-minute press call hosted by the Republican National Committee. “This is just another attempt by the Democrats to federalize the election process and benefit their campaigns.”

The 800-page bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Jan. 4 and passed in an almost party-line vote on March 3. It was then received by the Senate on March 11, where it has met opposition from a united Republican front since.

“Not one Republican voted for H.R.1 (in the House),” U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-Altoona, said on the call, adding that the legislation “is not taking the pulse of the American people.”

Kelly explained S.1 is the Senate’s “refined” version of the House’s H.R.1 form of the elections bill.

“It’s absurd,” Joyce said. “I voted against H.R.1 in the House, and I will absolutely continue to reject this vast overreach because the people of Pennsylvania reject this vast overreach.”

Sponsored by Democratic U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland and 222 other co-sponsors, the bill seeks to expand voter registration and access, require states to establish independent redistricting commissions to quell gerrymandering and address election integrity and security.

Additionally, the legislation would establish the National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions in the legislative branch, require campaign-related fundraising and spending to be disclosed, address ethics within all three branches of government and require the president and vice president to disclose 10 years of tax returns.

The For the People Act is the “most expansive voting rights legislation in generations,” according to the New York Times, and President Joe Biden himself has called it a “vital step to protect democracy.”

Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Tabas said on the call he was “confident” the legislation would not pass to the Senate floor for debate.

“This is not for the people, it’s for the politicians,” Tabas said. “They’re trying to change the rules to make sure that they have the ability to pull this election off.”

In order to begin debate, the test vote would have needed to reach a three-fifths majority — a 60-vote threshold — to overcome Republicans’ legislative filibuster.

It failed on a 50-50 vote, the Associated Press reported Tuesday night. The rejection forces Democrats to reckon with what comes next for their top legislative priority in a narrowly divided Senate. Whatever Democrats decide, they will likely be confronted with the same challenge they faced Tuesday when minority Republicans used the filibuster — the same tool that Democrats employed during Donald Trump’s presidency — to block consideration of the bill.

Though there have been talks of possibly eliminating the threshold, the New York Times said some moderates wouldn’t agree, like U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Manchin, the only Democrat to initially hold out on voting rights in the bill, countered with an alternative proposal that is more limited, the New York Times said. He said he believes the current proposal was intrusive to states’ election regulation rights.

According to a Monmouth University Poll released Monday, Manchin’s counterproposal could be more in line with the general public’s position, especially in the realm of voter identification requirements.

Results showed that eight in 10 responders said they generally support voter identification requirements, which would be eliminated under the For the People Act.

“There’s so many things that you can’t do without an ID,” Kelly said. “Why would we make it so easy to create voter fraud?”

The election reform bill test vote comes as some states have been enacting new voting restrictions, such as ballot drop boxes and additional voter identification requirements for those requesting absentee ballots, the New York Times said.

As of May 14, lawmakers had passed 22 new laws in 14 states — such as Florida and Arizona — to increase voter restrictions, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a research institute.

U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, responded to Republicans’ criticisms.

“We want to make it easier for people to vote in free and fair elections,” Lamb said in a statement. “They want to make it harder.”

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said he believes the “sacred right” to vote is “under attack” in America.

“Voting is a foundational pillar of our democracy, and the Senate has a moral duty to protect it and remove other institutional barriers to voting,” Casey said in a statement. “With legislatures across the country introducing hundreds of voter suppression bills and democracy under assault, we must have a debate and vote on For the People.”

Tabas said he’s beginning to notice a “crack in favor of bipartisanship,” citing that Democrat Stacey Abrams of Georgia has publicly backed Manchin’s compromise.

“That shows you that the Democrats recognize that you need to have secure elections that are both fair and where the results can be accurately counted on by all Americans,” Tabas said.

Ultimately, the most important part about elections, Kelly said, is that “every legitimate vote” is counted.

“When the people lose the faith, the confidence and the trust they have in our system, everything else fails,” Kelly said.

The Associated Press contributed.