The Democrats’ expansive elections and voting bill is all but certain to be rejected in a key test vote in the Senate, providing a dramatic example of Republicans’ use of the filibuster to block legislation and forcing hard questions for Democrats over next steps.

Democrats have labeled their major election overhaul the “For the People Act” — but when pollsters talk to the people themselves, many say they would rather take a pass.

As the Senate prepares to vote on the legislation Tuesday, Americans are deeply conflicted.

Democrats in the Senate are trying this week to convince their Republican colleagues that updated voting rights legislation is necessary, but the bill they are bringing forward is unlikely to pass. 

For months, Democrats in the US Senate have danced delicately around Joe Manchin, giving him space and holding out hope that the West Virginia Democrat would eventually come around and give his must-win vote to legislation that would amount to the most sweeping voting rights protections in a generation.

That detente effectively ended on Sunday, when Manchin authored an op-ed making it clear he will not vote for the bill, leaving Democrats to find a new path forward – that is, if there is one at all.

As Democrats face a "make or break" month to pass major legislation to support the president's agenda, they could be thwarted by members of their own party. 

Joe Biden has called June "a month of action on Capitol Hill." But as the Senate returns to session today, much of his signature legislation is in danger of failing thanks to a few centrist Democrats.  

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday said he would oppose his party’s sprawling voting rights bill — because he believes it would divide the country.

In an op-ed in his home state’s Gazette-Mail, the moderate Manchin announced his rejection of the Democrat-pushed For the People Act — known as S1 — which is stalled in the Senate after the House green-lit it in March along party lines.

Sen. Joe Manchin said Sunday will vote against the sweeping federal election reform bill introduced by congressional Democrats, called the For the People Act, a move essentially guaranteeing the legislation will fail to pass in Congress.

“I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening blinds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For The People Act,” the moderate West Virginia Democrat wrote wrote in an op-ed published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday defended his decision to vote against a sweeping voting rights bill and reiterated his opposition to gutting the filibuster, declaring in the strongest terms yet that he is not willing to change Senate rules to help his party push through much of President Joe Biden's agenda.

“House Democrats passed sweeping voting and ethics legislation over unanimous Republican opposition… House Resolution 1, which touches on virtually every aspect of the electoral process, was approved Wednesday night on a near party-line 220-210 vote.” (AP News)

Highlights of the bill:

Expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls

Requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting

President Biden on Thursday celebrated the House passing a sweeping election reform bill, saying he would sign it if it passes the Senate.

Biden called it "urgently needed" to protect the right to vote and to "strengthen" democracy, and vowed to work with Congress to "refine and advance" the legislation.

The For the People Act of 2021, known as H.R. 1, passed Wednesday by a vote of 220 to 210. No Republicans joined with Democrats in approving the bill, H.R. 1.