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The electoral reform promoted by the Democratic Party, which among other things established that Americans should not have to present an official ID at the time of voting, did not pass a key vote in the Senate this Tuesday, due to the block rejection of the Republican opposition.
Democrats didn’t achieve the required 60-vote majority they needed to pass a first filter before the debate and the final vote on the so-called “For the People Act”, one of the main priorities of the White House and its progressive allies.
By 50 votes in favor and 50 against – all of them Republicans -, the bill was discarded and Democrats, who control half of the seats in the Senate, suffered a hard setback in their attempts to eliminate requirements and controls to exercise the vote.
Conservatives assure that their objective is to stop irregularities and that the elections can be carried out in a transparent manner.
Before the vote, several Republican senators said the bill would reduce the power of the states to regulate elections, and criticized several points of its content, such as the possibility for voters to register on the same day of the elections.
“This would mean letting the federal government take the reins of our electoral system, which has always been under the domain of the states,” said Republican Senator Rob Portman before the vote.
