华盛顿——民主党人正在发起一场激烈的运动，试图彻底修改阻碍他们全面投票立法的参议院规则，他们认为唐纳德·特朗普关于2020年的谎言释放了黑暗力量选举要求非凡的反应。

在激烈的演讲和采访中，乔·拜登总统和国会民主党高层抓住1月6日起义一周年的机会，作为推进他们长期停滞的投票、道德和民主的理由选举s包。参议院共和党人曾多次阻止这项立法，他严厉批评这些措施是“党派夺权”，并警告说，任何规则的改变都将在共和党占多数的情况下困扰民主党。

特朗普谎称选举被盗，不仅煽动了冲击国会大厦的暴民。他无情的虚假信息运动也引发了共和党通过新的州法律的努力，这些法律使投票变得更加困难，同时在某些情况下使选举管理更容易受到政治影响。

许多民主党人表示，在他们看来，这是一场时代的民权斗争，现在是采取果断行动的时候了。2022年初修改参议院规则可能是在中期选举前抵消共和党在州一级推动的最后一次最佳机会，届时民主党在众议院的多数席位和在参议院50-50席位的微弱优势可能会被抹去。

“如果共和党人...继续劫持参议院的规则，把这个会议厅变成一个深冷柜，我们将考虑必要的适当步骤，”纽约州参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)周一表示，他称共和党的论点是“煤气灯，纯粹而简单。”

他们的立法将迎来美国选举一代人以来最大的改革，消除以选举安全为名颁布的投票障碍，降低大笔资金在政治中的影响力，并限制党派对国会选区划分的影响。该方案将创建超越州级共和党法律的全国选举标准。它还将恢复司法部在有歧视历史的州监督选举法的能力。

然而，他们将采取什么行动来推进这一方案仍然高度不确定，这取决于民主党参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)往往难以获得的支持。几周以来，关键的民主党人一直在与曼钦会面，集思广益，同时也寻求外部盟友来游说他的支持。

曼钦没有做出坚定的承诺。他一再表示，他不会支持降低阻挠议事者通过大多数立法的60票门槛，中间派议员克里斯滕·西内马(Kyrsten Sinema，D-Ariz)也持这一立场。在门槛降低之前，制定选举立法可能会很困难，甚至不可能。

但民主党人表示，在盟友要求采取行动的压力越来越大的情况下，他们关注的是现在可以实现的目标。他们说，即使是对参议院规则的适度修改，也将是向前迈出的重要一步。

拜登将于周二在亚特兰大发表演讲，重点是投票权。舒默还增加了民权的象征意义，将马丁·路德·金的假期定在1月17日，作为通过投票立法或考虑修订规则的最后期限。参议院本周可能会举行一系列测试投票，旨在强调共和党的反对。

一位熟悉该计划的民主党人表示，如果民主党人不能在周一假期前与曼钦达成协议，他们计划推进对规则修改的投票，这将迫使参议员表明他们的立场。

民主党人正在讨论的一项提议是，取消所谓“继续进行动议”的阻挠，这是一项法案在参议院进行辩论之前所需要的。

曼钦上周表示:“我不会说‘是’或‘不是’，因为我不知道会有哪些选票来到会场。”他指出，他过去曾支持对参议院规则进行一些修改。

共和党人说，援引1月6日的暴动是令人不快的。他们表示，投票法案基本上是在袭击发生前起草的，其中包括一份自由派的优先事项清单，这对打击特朗普试图推翻选举暴露出的法律漏洞几乎没有帮助。

参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell，R-Ky)说:“我们的一些同事笨拙地援引1月6日的周年纪念来推进这些目标，这是令人厌恶的。“暴力犯罪分子触犯法律的事实并不意味着参议院民主党人有权破坏参议院。”

周一，麦康奈尔警告民主党人，如果哪怕是微小的规则改变，他也会利用众议院复杂的规则来迫使进行强硬的投票。在他提议投票的大约12项法案中，包括阻止拜登的私营部门疫苗授权的措施;阻止所谓的避难所城市获得联邦拨款;并使那些被判杀害执法人员的人更容易被判处死刑。

麦康奈尔说:“由于参议员舒默一意孤行，试图破坏参议院，共和党人将展示这种鲁莽的行动将如何产生直接后果。

对投票权的重新关注正值拜登的大部分议程在国会停滞不前。圣诞节前，曼钦单枪匹马地叫停了拜登提出的约2万亿美元的社会和环境倡议，无限期推迟了该法案。

民权活动家对事态的转变深感沮丧，称宝贵的几个月被浪费了。他们认为共和党支持的投票法改革是一种更微妙的投票限制形式，比如识字测试和人头税，这些曾经被用来剥夺民主党关键选区黑人选民的选举权。

“不幸的是，许多政策制定者没有真正意识到我们此刻在这个国家所处位置的严重性，”全美有色人种协进会总统德里克·约翰逊在接受采访时表示，他同时提到了拜登的白宫和参议院民主党人。“非裔美国人以前见过这种情况。我们以前经历过。我们必须超越程序性对话，进入保护这个脆弱的民主的实质。”

麦康奈尔嘲笑“自由派活动家不断重复的关于民主如何濒临死亡的可怕故事。”他最近提出了两党采取更狭隘行动的可能性，以支持一项错综复杂的19世纪法律，即管理总统选举认证的《选举计数法》——特朗普试图利用这项法律推翻他2020年的失败。在这一点上达成妥协可能会吸引曼钦，他曾表示，任何选举立法都应该在两党基础上制定。

上周，缅因州的共和党参议员苏珊·科林斯与一群参议员举行了两党会谈，其中包括曼钦姆，以及新罕布什尔州的民主党同僚珍妮·沙欣和亚利桑那州的基尔斯顿·西内马。据一位不愿透露审议细节的人士透露，更新《选举计票法》是讨论的一部分。

民主党抨击共和党对《选举计数法》的提议是一种“玩世不恭”的政治策略，旨在联邦一级尽最大努力，同时在共和党控制的摇摆州(如佐治亚州)保留法律。

“如果我不能首先投票，认证选举有什么好处?”民主党参议员拉斐尔·沃诺克说，他是第一位在参议院代表佐治亚州的非洲裔美国人。他今年将竞选连任。

Invoking Jan. 6, Dems pivot to fight for voting legislation

WASHINGTON -- Democrats are mounting an impassioned bid to overhaul Senate rules that stand in the way of their sweeping voting legislation, arguing dark forces unleashed by Donald Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020electiondemand an extraordinary response.

In fiery speeches and interviews, President Joe Biden and top congressional Democrats have seized on the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection as a reason to advance their long-stalled voting, ethics andelections package. Senate Republicans, who have repeatedly blocked the legislation, excoriate the measures as a “partisan power grab” and warn that any rule changes will haunt Democrats someday under a GOP majority.

Trump’s false claims of a stolen election not only incited the mob that stormed the Capitol. His unrelenting campaign of disinformation also sparked a GOP effort to pass new state laws that have made it more difficult to vote, while in some cases rendering the administration of elections more susceptible to political influence.

Many Democrats say the moment has come to act decisively in what they view as the civil rights fight of the era. Changing Senate rules early in 2022 offers perhaps the last best chance to counteract Republicans' state-level push before the midterm elections, when Democrats' House majority and slim hold in the 50-50 Senate could be wiped out.

“If Republicans ... continue to hijack the rules of the Senate to turn this chamber into a deep freezer, we are going to consider the appropriate steps necessary,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday, calling the Republican line of argument “gaslighting, pure and simple.”

Their legislation would usher in the biggest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation, striking down hurdles to voting enacted in the name of election security, reducing the influence of big money in politics and limiting partisan influence over the drawing of congressional districts. The package would create national election standards that would trump the state-level GOP laws. It would also restore the ability of the Justice Department to police election laws in states with a history of discrimination.

Yet what action they will take to advance the package remains highly uncertain, depending on the often elusive support of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Key Democrats have been meeting with Manchin for weeks, brainstorming options while also enlisting outside allies to lobby his support.

Manchin has made no firm commitments. He has repeatedly said he will not support lowering the filibuster's 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation, a stance shared by fellow centrist Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. Until the threshold is lowered, enacting election legislation could prove difficult, if not impossible.

But Democrats say they are focused on what's achievable now, amid escalating pressure from allies for action. Even modest changes to Senate rules, they say, would be a significant step forward.

Leaning into the fight, Biden is set to deliver a speech in Atlanta on Tuesday focused on voting rights. And Schumer has added to the civil rights symbolism by setting the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, on Jan. 17, as the deadline to either pass the voting legislation or consider revising the rules. The Senate is likely to hold a series of test votes this week intended to underscore Republican opposition.

If Democrats don't reach an agreement with Manchin by the Monday holiday, they plan to push ahead with a vote on a rule change, which would force senators to show where they stand, said one Democrat familiar with the planning.

One proposal Democrats are discussing would eliminate the filibuster on the so-called “motion to proceed” that is needed before a bill can be debated on the Senate floor.

“I'm not going to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ because I don’t know what votes will come to the floor," Manchin said last week, noting that he has supported some changes to Senate rules in the past.

Republicans say invoking the Jan. 6 insurrection is offensive. The voting bills, they say, were largely written before the attack and include a liberal wish list of priorities that will do little to combat vulnerabilities in the law exposed by Trump's attempts to overturn the election.

“It is beyond distasteful for some of our colleagues to ham-fistedly invoke the Jan. 6 anniversary to advance these aims," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “The fact that violent criminals broke the law does not entitle Senate Democrats to break the Senate.”

On Monday, McConnell warned Democrats that he would use the chamber’s complicated rules to force tough votes if even minor rule changes are made. Included among the roughly one-dozen bills he has proposed for votes are measures to stop Biden’s private-sector vaccine mandate; block so-called sanctuary cities from getting federal grant money; and make it easier for those convicted of killing law enforcement officers to receive the death penalty.

“Since Sen. Schumer is hellbent on trying to break the Senate, Republicans will show how this reckless action would have immediate consequences,” McConnell said.

The renewed focus on voting rights comes as much of Biden's agenda has stalled out in Congress. Before Christmas, Manchin singlehandedly halted work on Biden's roughly $2 trillion package of social and environmental initiatives, delaying the bill indefinitely.

Civil rights activists are deeply frustrated by the turn of events, saying precious months have been wasted. They view the GOP-backed changes in voting laws as a subtler form of ballot restrictions like literacy tests and poll taxes once used to disenfranchise Black voters, a key Democratic constituency.

“Unfortunately many policymakers have not truly appreciated the gravity of where we are in this nation at this moment,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in an interview, singling out both Biden's White House as well as Senate Democrats. “African Americans have seen this before. We've experienced this before. We must get beyond procedural conversations and get to the substance of protecting this fragile thing called democracy.”

McConnell has ridiculed "scary stories that liberal activists keep repeating about how democracy is at death’s door.” He recently dangled the possibility of narrower bipartisan action to shore up a convoluted 19th century law called the Electoral Count Act that governs the certification of presidential elections — a law Trump sought to exploit to overthrow his 2020 defeat. A compromise on that could be attractive to Manchin, who has said any election legislation ought to be enacted on a bipartisan basis.

Last week, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine held bipartisan talks with a group of senators that included Manchinm, as well as fellow Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. An update to the Electoral Count Act was part of the discussion, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to reveal details about the deliberations.

Democrats have blasted the GOP overture on the Electoral Count Act as a “cynical” political maneuver aimed at doing the bare minimum at the federal level while leaving laws in place in GOP-controlled swing states like Georgia.

“What good is it to certify the election, if I don’t get to cast my vote in the first place?” said Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, the first African American to represent Georgia in the Senate. He is up for reelection this year.