Senate will vote on voting rights bills and filibuster rules change

The Senate could decide the fate of sweeping voting rights bills and proposed changes to the chamber’s rules Wednesday after months of wrangling over how far Congress needs to go to protect U.S. democracy.

The chamber aims to vote as soon as Wednesday night to advance legislation that would expand early and mail-in voting and make Election Day a national holiday, among a bevy of other reforms. Republicans will block the proposals.

Democrats then plan to vote on changing Senate rules to require a so-called talking filibuster for only the voting rights bills. The change would force GOP senators to actively speak on the Senate floor to block the legislation rather than withhold their support in a vote. If all senators used up their speeches – each is allowed up to two speeches, with no time limit – the chamber could pass the proposals with a simple majority.

While the Senate rules tweak would require a simple majority, it is also expected to fail. Two Democrats, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have said they will oppose most proposed changes to the filibuster.

“Win, lose or draw, we are going to vote, we are going to vote,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday on the floor of the chamber. “Especially when the issue relates to the beating heart of our democracy, as voting rights does.”

The impasse will likely leave Democrats no closer to passing election reforms they view as vital to preserving ballot access after GOP-led legislatures in states such as Georgia and Texas approved restrictive voting laws last year. Supporters of voting rights legislation around the country — particularly voters of color who are expected to disproportionately feel the effects of state laws — have urged Democrats to take action before the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

All 50 senators in the Democratic caucus have backed the voting rights bills before the Senate. They have not agreed on the need to scrap the filibuster to pass them.

Democratic leaders including President Joe Biden, who spent more than 30 years in the Senate, have urged the party to get behind the proposed rules changes.

It is unclear now how Democrats will proceed once the voting rights effort fails. Some Republicans have sounded open to reforming the process of counting electoral votes after a presidential election to make it harder to overturn a result.

Changes to the Electoral Count Act would respond specifically to efforts by…