A Voting Rights Bill That Both Democrats and Republicans Can Support

Republicans have killed the latest attempt to fix our democracy. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Indeed, if Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky truly cares about American democracy (as he professed to after the Jan. 6 insurrection), then he should look to the example of election compromise from his home state. Instead of reflexively blocking any bill that would improve our elections—as he is wont to do—he should engage in a real dialogue with Democrats about their proposed voting reform bill and negotiate in good faith.

Alas, Senate Republicans have other ideas. On Oct. 20, they unanimously voted against moving forward with the Democratic-proposed Freedom to Vote Act without even engaging on its merits. (The procedural measure to stop debate succeeded on a 51–49 vote, with all 50 Republicans and Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer voting yes to end consideration of the measure; Schumer voted yes simply to preserve his ability to bring the bill up again.)

There’s a lot in the proposal that both sides should like, as it would drastically improve our election system. It would require states to have early voting, expand mail-in voting, make voter registration easier, require independent redistricting, and promote election security. There is nothing radical in the legislation; in fact, these are all things that some states do already.