Key Points for HR1

The internet is buzzing today as we await senate voting on HR1, also know as “For the People Act,” being brought in to protect voting rights for all- and ofc ourse, the GOP is refusing to support it.

Here are some key points on today’s vote:

The sweeping measures in the For the People Act, designated as S.1 in the Senate and H.R.1 in the House, touch on everything from the ground rules for voting to new disclosure requirements for presidents and changes to campaign finance law.

On elections, they would set a federal baseline for election rules and thwart some of the voting restrictions passed in key battleground states this year. Among other things: They would mandate 15 days of early voting and neuter states' strict voter ID requirements by allowing voters casting ballots in federal elections to submit a sworn affidavit instead of identification.

They also would require automatic and same-day voter registration and pre-paid postage on absentee ballots.

Although iterations of the bills have been around for several years, their proponents say the push to clamp down on access to the ballot in Republican-led states give them new urgency.

The For the People Act passed the Democratic-controlled House earlier this year. But it's mired in the Senate, where it lacks Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's support, unless modifications are madeand faces a wall of resistance from Republicans.

Although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has procedural avenues to bring the bill to the floor, it's unlikely to ever pass unless the 60-vote threshold to overcome a legislative filibuster is dismantled. 

And Manchin, along with Republicans and several other moderate Democrats, opposes abandoning the filibuster.

Senate Democrats are on track to suffer a stinging defeat Tuesday with Republican opposition expected to sink a voting and election bill that Democrats have made a signature priority – an outcome that will underscore the limits of the party's power with the narrowest possible Senate majority.

The Senate is taking up an amended version of legislation that passed the House in March.

Tuesday's vote is a procedural motion on whether to begin debate on the legislation. It would need 60 votes to succeed, a threshold it is not expected to meet.

Here are some key things to know about today's vote:

• What both sides are saying: Democrats have set up a key test vote on the bill expected at 5:30 p.m. ET that they have pitched as a necessary counter to state-level efforts to restrict voting access. Republicans have united against it, decrying it as a partisan power grab and a federal overreach into state voting and election systems. Democrats have also faced pushback over the legislation from a member of their own caucus: pivotal swing vote Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

• Where things stand on the filibuster: Failure of the bill to move forward would be a major blow for Democrats that will likely trigger a fresh outpouring of calls from progressives to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which requires most bills to get the votes of at least 10 Republicans given the current Senate makeup. But the votes are not there to eliminate the filibuster with Manchin and several other moderate Democrats opposed.

• Manchin's position: Manchin said on Monday evening that he did not yet know if he would vote to advance the bill as he was still negotiating changes with Democrats — and did not know if they would be agreed to yet. Manchin said earlier this month that he would vote against the bill, arguing that any major legislation related to voting and elections must have bipartisan support. But he has since left open the option that he could support a modified bill. The West Virginia Democrat released a proposal that would make Election Day a holiday, ban partisan gerrymandering, mandate at least 15 consecutive days of early voting and institute a voter ID requirement, among other provisions.

• What is happening on the state level: The effort by Democrats to pass the voting legislation comes in the aftermath of former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and as Republican-controlled legislatures have pressed ahead with new state laws imposing limits on voting. As of May, state legislators in 48 states had introduced more than 380 bills with restrictive voting provisions, according to a tally from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/for-the-people-act-vote-06-22-2021/index.html