国会山-参议院民主党人周四争先恐后地团结在一场全面的选举在下周就该法案进行投票之前，改革法案将在他们的核心小组中的一名关键成员表示愿意支持他们，因为共和党人在反对派中表现出统一战线。

纽约参议员查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)说:“我们的目标仍然非常明确:保护投票权，加强我们的民主，制止席卷全国的选民压制浪潮。”他宣布周二将进行投票，开始对名为《为人民服务法案》(For People Act)的法案进行辩论。

舒默说:“共和党各州立法机构正在对投票权进行自吉姆·克劳以来最大规模的攻击。”。

约书亚·罗伯茨/盖蒂影像公司

罗伊·布朗特参议员代表里克·斯科特参议员、参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔参议员、马什参议员发言

根据无党派法律和政策研究所布伦南正义中心(Brennan Center for Justice)的数据，今年有14个州通过了限制性投票法，48个州提交了近400项法案。

这项立法是一项全面的选举改革法律，旨在通过自动登记、增加缺席投票和提前投票(这是这一流行病的标志)来扩大选民获得选票的机会，并扩大竞选财务披露，限制党派不公正的选区划分，以及建立联邦资助的竞选活动。

但共和党人表示，他们打算取消一名共和党参议员称之为“所有权力争夺之母”的措施。

参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔说:“这是一个寻找问题的解决方案。”。“这是对我们选举制度的大规模接管，没有人被愚弄，下周参议院将否决它。”

“参议院应该拒绝这项法案，我相信参议院会拒绝这项法案，”共和党人罗伊·布朗特说。他是密苏里州前国务卿，也是负责监督选举法的参议院规则委员会的高级共和党人。

共和党人反对任何将选举联邦化的努力，并声称该法案将支持“选票收集”，压制第一修正案在竞选财务改革中的权利，并在更大程度上使未来的选举偏向民主党人，由一个党派联邦选举委员会负责。

尽管该法案预计将于周二失败，但民主党人表示，党团团结是对红色州选举法改革的重要象征性抵制，批评者称，红色州选举法改革压低了倾向于支持民主党的选民的投票率。

本周，唯一反对这项立法的民主党参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)周三公布了一份他认为可能赢得选票的修改清单，这使得这种团结变得更加可能。

曼钦名单包括他的政党支持的一些项目，如自动选民登记和增加竞选资金披露。但他的名单也包含了他的同事们过去谴责过的措施，比如允许修改选民名单和选民身份要求。

尽管如此，这位西弗吉尼亚州民主党人周四还是获得了一些至关重要的支持。公平战斗组织的斯泰西·艾布拉姆斯同意了这些改变，这遭到了麦康奈尔的谴责，他宣布反对这些改变。

艾布拉姆斯在美国有线电视新闻网的“新一天”节目中说:“曼钦参议员提出的是一些基本的建筑材料，我们需要确保无论你的地理位置如何，民主都是可以获得的。”他补充说:“他提出的这些条款是强有力的，将创造一个公平的竞争环境，将创造一个不会因州而异的标准，我认为这将确保每个美国人都有更好的投票权，尽管各州立法试图限制投票权的获得。”

参议员Raphael Warnock，D-Ga。一直站在民权运动的最前沿，他发出了充满希望的声音。

“我认为我们正在取得相当大的进展。我们可能会为一两件事争吵，”他说。“我不会为了追求完美而牺牲美好...我认为我们已经非常接近我们需要的地方了。”

周二正在考虑的措施将不得不进行修改，以包括曼钦的修改，曼钦没有透露他打算如何就程序性措施进行投票。然而，他的同事在周四的一次特别闭门午餐后确信曼钦在船上。

“我想我们会到达那里的。我总是说，一个非常好的投票权法案有50张民主党选票，我们正在花时间来衡量这一点。同样，如果我们按照乔(曼钦)提供的那样去做，那将会是一个非常强大的投票权法案蒂姆·凯恩弗吉尼亚州民主党人告诉美国广播公司新闻。

参议院第二号民主党人、伊利诺伊州的迪克·德宾指出了民主党统一战线的重要性。

“美国各地发生的事情，不容忽视。即使记录表决没有对我们有利——我希望如此——但如果没有，成员们需要记录在案。我们正在经历一个现代史上前所未有的压制选民的时代，如果共和党人想成为同谋，那是他们的决定，但他们应该被记录在案，”他说。

尽管有可能取得象征性的胜利，但民主党远远没有在平分秋色的参议院通过他们的立法。参议院要求10名共和党人加入所有多数党，以打破共和党领导的阻挠议案。这就是为什么投票权活动家恳求民主党领导人炸毁参议院的阻挠议事规则，这是曼钦和其他一些民主党人拒绝的。

但周二的投票，加上共和党的联合反对，可能会助长阻挠议事已经过时的论点。

“我真的希望媒体能问对方更多关于投票权的问题，因为这是宪法中规定的投票权。而不是阻挠议事，”沃诺克说。

Democrats push for party unity as GOP unites to block voting rights bill

Capitol Hill -- Senate Democrats scrambled on Thursday to unite behind a sweepingelectionreform bill ahead of a vote on the measure next week, with a key member of their caucus signaling a willingness to support them as Republicans present a united front in opposition.

"Our goal remains crystal clear: Protect the right to vote, strengthen our democracy, and put a stop to the tide of voter suppression flooding across our country," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who announced a Tuesday vote that would start debate on the bill titled the For the People Act.

"Republican state legislatures are conducting the most sweeping attack on the right to vote since the beginning of Jim Crow," Schumer said.

Fourteen states have passed restrictive voting laws this year and nearly 400 bills have been filed in 48 states, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute.

The legislation is a sweeping election reform law that seeks to expand voter access to ballots through automatic registration, increased absentee ballots and early voting -- hallmarks of the pandemic -- as well as broaden campaign finance disclosures, limit partisan gerrymandering and institute federally-financed campaigns.

But Republicans say they intended to sink the measure that one GOP senator called "the mother of all power grabs."

"This is a solution in search of a problem," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "It's a massive takeover of our election system, and nobody is fooled, and next week the Senate will reject it."

"The Senate should reject this bill, and I believe the Senate will reject this bill," said Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a former Missouri secretary of state and top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee that oversees election law.

Republicans oppose any efforts to federalize elections and have claimed the bill would support "ballot harvesting," suppress First Amendment rights in campaign finance reforms and more broadly tilt future elections to Democrats with a partisan Federal Election Commission.

Despite the bill's expected failure on Tuesday, Democrats said caucus unity was an important symbolic pushback against red state election law changes that critics say depress turnout of voters who tend to support Democrats.

That unity became more likely this week when Sen. Joe Manchin, the only Democrat who has opposed the legislation, on Wednesday unveiled a list of modifications he said could earn his vote.

The Manchin list includes some items his party supports, like automatic voter registration and increased campaign finance disclosure. But his list also contains measures his colleagues have denounced in the past, like allowing modified voter roll purges and a voter ID requirement.

Still, the West Virginia Democrat received some crucial support Thursday. Fair Fight's Stacey Abrams signed on to the changes, something decried by McConnell, who announced his opposition to them.

"What Senator Manchin is putting forward are some basic building blocks that we need to ensure that democracy is accessible no matter your geography," Abrams told CNN's "New Day" adding, "Those provisions that he is setting forth are strong ones that will create a level playing field, will create standards that do not vary from state to state and I think will ensure that every American has improved access to the right to vote despite the onslaught of state legislations seeking to restrict access to the right to vote," Abrams said.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who has been on the forefront of civil rights activism, struck a hopeful tone.

"I think that we are making considerable progress. We might squabble about one or two things," he said. "I’m not about to sacrifice the good in the pursuit of the perfect...I think we are very close to where we need to be."

The measure under consideration Tuesday would have to be amended to include Manchin's changes, and Manchin would not say how he intends to vote on the procedural measure. Still, his colleagues were convinced after a special closed-door lunch Thursday that Manchin was on board.

"I think we’re going to get there. I've always said there is 50 Democratic votes for a very good voting rights bill, and we’re taking the time to scale that. And again, if we did just what Joe (Manchin) provided, that would be a very robust voting rights bill," Sen.Tim Kaine, D-Va., told ABC News.

The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, noted the importance of a united Democratic front.

"What's going on across America, it can't be ignored. And even if the recorded vote does not come down in our favor -- I hope it does -- but if it doesn't, members need to be on the record. We are going through an era of voter suppression that is unparalleled in modern history and if Republicans want to be complicit that is their decision but they should be on the record," he said.

Despite that potential symbolic victory, Democrats are far from passing their legislation through the evenly-split Senate where 10 Republicans are required to join all of the majority party to break a GOP-led filibuster. It’s why voting rights activists have implored Democratic leadership to blow up the Senate’s filibuster rule, something Manchin, along with a number of other Democrats, have rejected.

But the vote Tuesday, with united GOP opposition, could lend fuel to the argument that the filibuster is outdated.

"I really wish the press would ask the other side more questions about voting rights, because it’s the voting rights that’s inscribed in the Constitution. Not the filibuster," said Warnock.