'Use your soapbox': Activists urge Biden to step up voting rights push as latest bill fails in Senate

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden has called the fight for voting rights "the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War."

But nine months into his presidency, Biden and Democrats have made no headway to overcome Republican opposition to reform voting, failing to override voting restrictions that several GOP-led state legislatures adopted after the 2020 election. 

The latest setback came Wednesday after Senate Republicans used the filibuster to block advancement and debate of the Freedom to Vote Act, Democratic-backed legislation to create federal rules to protect mail-in voting, expand early voting, ensure same-day voting registration and make Election Day a federal holiday. The bill failed by a 49-51 vote, with Republicans voting unanimously to block voting-rights legislation for the third time this year.