Elkins, W.Va (WDTV) - Senators opened debate Wednesday on voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is key for protecting democracy.

Senators opened debate Wednesday on voting legislation that democrats and civil rights leaders say is key for protecting democracy.

The bill would make election day a national holiday, ensure access to early voting and mail-in ballots, and allow the justice department to combat voter inference.

But the bill hasn’t been able to overcome a filibuster because President Biden is unable to persuade two senators to change senate rules.

One of those two senators is Joe Manchin.

According to Davis and Elkins Associate Professor Dr. John Poffenbarger, the bill will almost certainly be defeated without a filibuster rules change.

“...and so that’s really kind of one of the issues is whether or not, you can’t pass this with the filibuster so you have to get rid of the filibuster beforehand,” said Poffenbarger.

Manchin says he supports to package, but doesn’t support getting rid of the filibuster rule.

“Manchin’s statements has been basically that it has been a constant rule in the senate that we never really passed bills without a bipartisan majority,” said Poffenbarger.

In a letter last week, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West and others urged Manchin to support the legislation.

Poffenbarger says the bill will likely end up being symbolic... And that it could come into play during election time.

“If anything this hurts or helps Manchin it’s maybe a little bit different for Simena with Arizona being a more diverse state, so it’ll just be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

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