By: The Associated Press & Scripps National
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have passed legislation that would strengthen a landmark civil rights-era voting law weakened by the Supreme Court over the past decade.
It’s a step party leaders are touting as progress in their quest to turn back voting restrictions advanced in Republican-led states.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed Tuesday on a 219-212 vote. No Republicans voted for the bill.
The bill is named after John Lewis, the former Georgia congressman who died last year.
It faces dim prospects in the Senate, where they do not have enough votes to overcome opposition from Republicans, who have excoriated it as “unnecessary” and a “power grab.”
House Democrats urged Senate Democrats to change Senate rules to pass the bill by a simple majority if they can’t get 10 Republicans on board.
The bill was passed in the House on the same day the House Democrats came together to move forward with the president’s $3.5 trillion budget plan.