Sinema, Kelly vote with Democrats on sweeping voting rights bill blocked by Republicans

Arizona Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly voted with a united Democratic-controlled Senate on Tuesday to advance their party’s sweeping elections and ethics bill that would dramatically change the way Americans vote, but could not overcome a Republican filibuster. 

On a 50-50 vote with all Democrats voting for and all Republicans voting against, the For the People Act fell short of the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster in the evenly divided chamber, where Vice President Kamala Harris presided as it voted on whether to open debate on the bill.

That only heightened frustration with Sinema by protesters gathered in the sweltering Arizona heat staging a sit-in at the senator’s north-central Phoenix office to try to pressure her to support eliminating the filibuster — an unlikely scenario. Ten people were arrested, organizers said.

Sinema and Kelly, both co-sponsors of the bill, reiterated their support of the legislation after the vote. 

"I believe the right to vote, faith in the integrity of our electoral process, and trust in elected officials are critical to the health and vitality of our democracy,” Sinema said in a written statement. “I am proud to support the For The People Act because it restores safeguards that protect every American's right to vote, reduces the influence of money in politics, secures our elections from foreign interference, and holds government officials to the highest ethical standards." 

She reiterated her support of the legislation in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Monday, where she also highlighted what she deemed as the risks associated with eliminating the filibuster to pass such legislation. 

Kelly expressed disappointment that GOP lawmakers torpedoed advancement of the bill. He said he'll continue working to overhaul voting rights and the nation's campaign-finance laws.

"Getting dark money out of our political system, ending partisan gerrymandering, protecting the right of Americans to vote, and reducing corruption and the influence of corporate special interests are important steps to get Washington working for Arizonans,” he said in a statement. "I’m disappointed that these priorities were blocked today, but I’m not done working on them. I remain committed to ensuring that we fix our broken political system to make it work for the American people, not corporate special interests. It’s the right thing to do for our country and for our democracy.”

The voting rights legislation was doomed long before Tuesday’s vote: Republicans, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have opposed the bill for months, characterizing it as a liberal “power grab” that would permanently tip the scales in favor of Democrats by federalizing the U.S. election system. 

“It’s a recipe for undermining confidence in our elections,” McConnell said ahead of the vote. “For remaking our entire system of government to suit the preferences of one far end of the political spectrum.” 

The bill passed the House of Representatives in March on a party-line vote, 220-210. It aims to increase voter access by expanding early voting, allowing same-day voter registration, enacting automatic registration for federal elections and lowering identification requirements. 

The bill would provide funding for upgrades to the nation's election security systems and require states to use durable paper ballots. It would ban providing false information about elections to hinder or discourage voting and increase penalties for voter intimidation. 

The legislation would also overhaul campaign finance rules, forcing 501(c)4 nonprofits to reveal their donors and remake the Federal Elections Commission, the regulatory agency that enforces campaign finance law.

Democrats argue the legislation is needed before the 2022 midterm cycle to neutralize the movement in Republican-led states to enact new voting rules that could make it more difficult to vote, following former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden last November. 

Sinema and Kelly for months have voiced support for the legislation, even as Sinema has continued to embrace the filibuster, a procedural hurdle currently used by Republicans to thwart passage of the election bill.

Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., another centrist, have become the face of Democratic frustration nationally over the issue, though other Democrats have quietly expressed their own opposition to eliminating the filibuster with little comparable blowback. 

Kelly refuses to say where he stands on the issue. As a senator and a candidate in Arizona’s 2020 special election for the Senate, he said he would study the issue and make a decision based on the best interests of the nation. He is up for reelection in 2022.

In April, he told local reporters “when it comes to the point when there’s a proposal — and there are different possibilities out there — I'll make a decision based on what's in the best interests of Arizona and the country, not what's in the best interests of a political party.” 

In recent days, he gave NBC News a similar answer, but added, "I'm not looking for something that is in the best interest of just Democrats.”

National Republicans are ratcheting up pressure for him to say explicitly where he stands on the filibuster. One Nation, an outside group aligned with McConnell, is spending $1 million on a digital ad campaign comparing Kelly’s answer to the filibuster issue to Sinema’s.

Have news to share about Arizona politics? Reach the reporter on Twitter and Facebook. Contact her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com and 602-444-4712.

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