Sen. Joe Manchin said Sunday he will vote against a sweeping voting rights and ethics bill that has been a top priority among Democratic leaders to push back against Republican efforts to impose fresh voting restrictions across the country.
In an op-ed piece for the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin said he can’t support the bill, known as the For the People Act, because it is too partisan.
“I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act,” the senator from West Virginia wrote.
“The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.”
The House had approved the For the People Act in March in a 220-210 vote without any Republican support. The measure would, among other things, allow voters to register online or on Election Day, mandate 15 days of early voting, limit the ability of states to block mail-in voting and also rewrite federal campaign finance rules.
Democratic leaders had made clear that the bill was a top priority as it became a catchall for several liberal priorities on voting rights but had recently become nervous about Manchin’s lack of support for the initiative. Without his backing, the bill seems destined to fail in the evenly-split Senate.
Communist Reform Bill !!!!!
Well, apparently all political roads run through West Virginia