Senate Republicans block sweeping US voting rights measure

US Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, has expressed opposition to a sweeping voting rights package, instead proposing a compromise measure that he hopes would earn some Republican support

Voting is a constitutional right afforded to all Americans, but access to the ballot box has become a major political flashpoint following Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election

US Senate Republicans on Tuesday torpedoed a Democratic effort to protect voting rights and expand ballot access for all Americans, a flashpoint issue months after an election marred by Donald Trump's baseless allegations of fraud.

Waving off broad bipartisan public support for election law updates, the opposition party united to block the advancement of a sweeping package which would amount to the most expansive federal election reform in decades.

Critics have widely savaged those measures, which include restricting mail-in ballots, criminalizing the delivery of water to people waiting to vote, and limiting early Sunday voting hours as a way to deny Black churches' "souls to the polls" events.

A version of the bill, which also reforms campaign finance laws and attempts to thwart gerrymandering, or the partisan redrawing of district lines, passed the House of Representatives in March.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered a scathing rebuke to Republicans as he sought to claim a moral victory.

Vowing that the fight was "far from over," President Joe Biden called the Republicans' move  "suppression of a bill to end voter suppression," while also labeling it "another attack on voting rights that is sadly not unprecedented."

There was worry that Democratic moderates, led by Senator Joe Manchin, would not support it.

"I remain committed to finding a bipartisan pathway forward because the future of our democracy is worth it," Manchin said in a statement.

Democrats have accused Republicans of caving to Trump's pressure about mail-in voting and other expansive voting rules, and targeting the ways that younger, poorer, non-white and typically Democratic voters access the ballot.

The White House had acknowledged the vote would fail, but nevertheless issued a statement of support, as it highlighted how Americans' right to vote "is under assault" thanks to moves by Republican state legislatures.

Republicans however remain firmly opposed to the Democratic effort.

"It's a recipe for undermining confidence in our elections, remaking our entire system of government to suit the preferences of one far end of the political spectrum."

Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate, has expressed opposition to getting rid of the filibuster outright.

"I've been engaged in this work my whole career, and we are going to be ramping up our efforts to overcome again -- for the people, for our very democracy," Biden said.

"We are going to explore every last one of our options," he said. "We have to."

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