“The right to vote is fundamental to our American democracy and protecting that right should not be about party or politics. Least of all, protecting this right, which is a value I share, should never be done in a partisan manner,” Manchin wrote in an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Manchin also defended the filibuster and said he would “not vote to weaken or eliminate” the Senate rule that requires 60 votes for most legislation to pass.
“Some in my party have argued that now is the time to discard such bipartisan voting reforms and embrace election reforms and policies solely supported by one party. Respectfully, I do not agree,” Manchin wrote. “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.”
Manchin’s op-ed is consistent with his past statements, but it comes as Senate Democrats plan to use the coming weeks to build support for their voting bill, on which Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to hold a vote in the last week in June.
Republicans are expected to successfully filibuster the bill with no GOP senators supporting the measure at this point. But Manchin’s op-ed will allow Republicans to argue that, regardless of a filibuster, the legislation doesn’t even have enough Democratic votes to pass the Senate, highlighting a point of intense tension within the Democratic Party.
Some of Manchin’s fellow Democrats in Congress immediately criticized his op-ed.
“Manchin’s op-ed might as well be titled, ‘Why I’ll vote to preserve Jim Crow,’ ” Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) tweeted.
“We didn’t need an op-ed to know you’re unwilling to protect our democracy,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tweeted.
As he has said in the past, Manchin wrote Sunday that he would instead support an overhaul of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, also known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which “would update the formula states and localities must use to ensure proposed voting laws do not restrict the rights of any particular group or population.” However, though Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has said she joins Manchin in supporting that alternative, other Republicans have said they would not, making it unlikely that it would pass without doing away with the filibuster.
The For the People Act would improve voter access and revamp rules on campaign finance and ethics. It would require states to provide at least 15 consecutive days of early voting and keep polls open at least 10 hours a day. Democrats have implored their colleagues in Congress to pass the federal bill as GOP-led state legislatures and Republican governors have enacted or tried to enact voting restrictions across the country.
In March, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed into law a restrictive voting bill that curtails the use of drop boxes and imposes new ID requirements for mail voting. The state faced immediate blowback from Democrats and civil rights groups, as well as economic consequences as corporations spoke out against the bill.
Last week, House Democrats staged a walkout in the Texas Capitol to prevent the Republican majority from passing a restrictive voting bill. The next day, several of the state’s Democratic lawmakers said it was imperative that Congress pass the For the People Act.
“This is a now-or-never moment in American democracy,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) said. “If we don’t act now, then our democracy is not going to look the same either in 2022 or 2024.”
On CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Manchin defended against suggestions that he was blocking President Biden’s agenda.
“We’re looking every way we can to bring this country together and unite the country. That’s what I’m doing,” Manchin said. “And I think anybody, whether it be a Democrat or Republican, that’s sitting today in the Senate knows who I am. And I’ve always been about bipartisanship.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, said he had not spoken to Manchin but defended his colleague somewhat by saying parts of the For the People Act could be modified.
“There are clearly some things I think need to be negotiated, and I think Joe Manchin III realizes that,” King said. “But the guts of it … is voting rights. … That’s becoming more urgent by the day, based upon what’s going on around in the states.”
King said he was most concerned about portions of state-level voting restrictions being proposed that could allow a legislature to overturn the results of an election in a state.
“My belief is we’ve really got to focus on what the most crucial issue is, which is protecting democracy,” King said, adding he was “in general” very reluctant, like Manchin, to do away with the filibuster.
“But if it comes down to voting rights and the rights of Americans to go to the polls and select their leaders versus the filibuster, I’ll choose democracy,” King said.
Dave Clarke contributed to this report.
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