Several West Virginia sports leaders are urging Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to support federal voting rights legislation, as he remains steadfast in his refusal to change Senate rules that would make passing such legislation possible.
News of the move came as Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that the Senate would vote this week to establish a "talking filibuster" procedure that could allow Democrats to pass voting rights legislation at a 51-vote margin -- but Manchin balked at the idea.
In a letter sent to Manchin last week, five sports leaders -- most with ties to West Virginia -- said they "strongly support urgently needed legislation that will protect both the rights of voters and the integrity of outcomes in all Federal elections." The Freedom to Vote Act, one of two bills that Democrats are trying to advance to protect voting rights, "effectively addressed these goals," they said.
The letter was signed by former Los Angeles Laker and NBA executive Jerry West; Nick Saban, head football coach at the University of Alabama; former Houston Oiler and XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck; former NFL linebacker Darryl Talley; and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
"We come from some of our Nation's most popular sports leagues, conferences and teams," they wrote, noting that some of them were past rivals in sports or business. "But we are all certain that democracy is best when voting is open to everyone on a level playing field; the referees are neutral; and at the end of the game the final score is respected and accepted."
The sports leaders warned that those tenets "are now under intentional and unprecedented challenge," alluding to efforts by former President Donald Trump and his supporters, including Republican-led state legislatures, to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"We are united now in urging Congress to exercise its Constitutional responsibility to enact laws that set national standards for the conduct of Federal elections and for decisions that determine election outcomes," they wrote. "These guarantee that all Americans have an equal voice in our democracy and that Federal elections are conducted with integrity so that the votes of all eligible voters determine the election outcomes."
The Freedom to Vote Act would create national rules for voting by mail, early voting and other parts of the electoral process. Another bill that Democrats are hoping to pass, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, would restore the federal government's authority to review certain state voting laws to prevent discrimination.
The Senate began debate on the bills Tuesday, pressing ahead despite near-unified Republican opposition and obstacles within Democratic ranks to changing Senate rules.
"The eyes of the nation will be watching what happens this week in the United States Senate, just a few days removed from what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King's Jr.'s 93rd birthday," Schumer said Tuesday as he called up the bill for debate.
Schumer acknowledged that the bills are not likely to pass but said the public was entitled to know where each senator stands on the issue.
"Senate Democrats are under no illusion that we face difficult odds, especially when virtually every Senate Republican ... is staunchly against legislation protecting the right to vote," Schumer said. "But I want to be clear: When this chamber confronts a question -- this important one so vital to our country, so vital to our ideals, so vital to the future of our democracy -- you don't slide it off the table and say, never mind."
Information for this article was contributed by Felicia Sonmez and John Wagner of The Washington Post.