参议院民主党人正在利用即将到来的1月6日国会大厦袭击一周年纪念日，为他们支持国家选举制度的努力打一个漂亮的分数。
多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)周二在发言中表示，导致一群试图推翻2020年选举结果的暴徒冲击国会大厦的错误信息和恶意，正在助长共和党控制的州议会中的选民压制法律。
“当我们记得本周的1月6日，当我们面对州一级的选民压制时，我们必须清楚它们不是孤立的事态发展。它们都与同一个大谎言的反民主毒药直接相关，”舒默说，他指的是前总统唐纳德·特朗普和他的许多支持者支持的关于选举结果的错误信息。
几个月来，民主党人一直试图在众议院推动某种投票改革，引用了分析选举规则的无党派独立组织布伦南正义中心的研究，该研究发现，19个州颁布了33项法律，使美国人更难投票。
但这些立法努力面临着共和党人的无情封锁，他们反对联邦选举改革，因为他们说这是不必要的，并剥夺了各州控制自己选举的权力。
少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)周二在新闻发布会上表示:“关于大谎言的说法很多，另一方面的大谎言是，共和党控制的州议员试图让人们难以投票。“如果你真的阅读了已经通过的立法，显然情况并非如此。”
通过立法的多次尝试都以失败告终，因为参议院的阻挠议事规则要求60票才能开始就一项立法进行辩论。共和党的持续阻挠促使民主党加大赌注，包括舒默在内的许多人呼吁修改规则，允许投票改革以简单多数通过。
这远不是民主党人在平分秋色的参议院首次呼吁改变阻挠议事规则，但规则的改变需要所有参议院民主党人的一致支持，弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)和亚利桑那州民主党参议员基斯顿·西内马(Kyrsten Sinema)已经明确表示，他们不会支持分割，即使是投票权。
但在周二，曼钦略微偏离了他的强硬立场，拒绝排除在共和党拒绝谈判的情况下，在投票权问题上只有民主党的解决方案。曼钦在接受记者采访时称，通过参议院规则的修改是“沉重的负担”，并强调他的“偏好”是共和党的支持，但他没有称共和党的支持为“红线”
当被问及共和党的支持是否有必要时，曼钦说:“这是我的偏好。“在我开始做别人可能认为需要做的事情之前，我必须用尽我的一切能力与人交谈和谈判。”
这足以给一些民主党人一线希望，西弗吉尼亚州的温和派可能会在数月的谈判后软化立场。
但当天晚些时候，在与舒默和少数几个关键的民主党人就投票权和规则变化进行了一个小时的闭门会议后，曼钦坚持认为，“阻挠议事需要以我们能够做到的任何方式、形式或形式留在原地。”
然而，这位参议员确实表示支持让一项法案更容易开始辩论。
Senate Democrats look to Jan. 6 anniversary to push election reform
Senate Democrats are using the impending one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to put a fine point on their efforts to shore up the nation's election system.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in floor remarks Tuesday, said the same misinformation and malice that led a mob seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election to storm the Capitol is fueling voter suppression laws in GOP-controlled statehouses.
"As we remember January 6 this week and as we confront state level voter suppression, we must be clear they are not isolated developments. They are all directly linked to the same anti-Democratic poison of the big lie," Schumer said, referencing misinformation about the election results espoused by former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters.
Democrats have for months been trying to push some sort of voting reform through the chamber, citing research from the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan independent organization that analyzes election rules, that found that 19 states have enacted 33 laws that make it harder for Americans to vote.
But those legislative efforts have faced an unrelenting blockade from Republicans, who oppose federal election reform because they say it is unnecessary and takes power away from the states to control their own elections.
"There's been a lot of talk about big lies, the big lie on the other side is that state legislators controlled by Republicans are trying to make it difficult for people to vote," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said at a press conference Tuesday. "If you actually read the legislation that has been passed that's clearly not the case."
Multiple attempts at passing legislation have fizzled because of the Senate filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to begin debate on a piece legislation. Continued Republican blocks have prompted Democrats to up the ante and many, including Schumer, are calling for a revision to the rules to allow voting reform to pass with a simple majority.
This is far from the first call for a change to the filibuster rules made by Democrats in the evenly divided Senate, but a rule change would require unanimous support from all Senate Democrats, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have been clear they won't support a carve out, even for voting rights.
But on Tuesday, Manchin moved slightly off his hardline stance, refusing to rule out a Democratic-only solution on voting rights if Republicans refused to negotiate. Manchin called passing a change to the Senate rules a "heavy lift" while speaking to reporters and emphasized that his "preference" would be Republican buy-in, but he stopped short of calling Republican support a "red line"
"That's my preference," Manchin said when asked if GOP support was necessary. "I would have to exhaust everything in my ability to talk and negotiate with people before I start doing things that other people might think need to be done."
It was enough to give some Democrats a sliver of hope that the West Virginia moderate might be softening his position after months of talks.
But later in the day, after a one-hour, closed-door meeting with Schumer and a handful of key Democrats on voting rights and rules changes, Manchin insisted, “The filibuster needs to stay in place in any way, shape or form that we can do it.”
The senator did, however, express support for making it easier to begin debate on a bill.
