The Democrats must use their slim majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to pass voting reform legislation. They should not let Republicans use the filibuster to block those efforts. If Democrats fail to act, they risk millions of voters being disenfranchised in a 2022 election that will determine control of Congress in the second half of President Biden’s term. They also invite the possibility of state-level Republicans attempting to steal the election should the country see a close presidential race in 2024.

The stakes are really that high.

We would like to write that both parties should work together to make sure our democracy is truly representative and that elections are fair and convenient for all voters, but Republican-controlled state legislatures have made it clear that fairness and voter participation are not their goals. Rather, their goal is retaining power by any means. Washington Republican lawmakers have assisted them, rejecting voting rights proposals at every turn.

The most ambitious piece of Washington legislation — the For the People Act passed by the House — has no path to enactment. Expansive, it could not get the support of moderate Senate Democrats. In addition to restoring Voting Rights Act provisions weakened by the U.S. Supreme Court and easing registration, it would also reorganize the Federal Election Commission, restrict the ability of states to set up congressional redistricting, revamp campaign financing laws to encourage small donations, and include new ethics rules for the president and vice president.

More likely to get the unified Democratic support necessary is an amended version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, named after the deceased civil rights icon and Georgia Democratic representative, Rep. John Lewis. It would expand and strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was gutted by a 2013 Supreme Court decision. But it also has no Republican support.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., chair of the Senate Rules Committee and a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is leading talks on a revised proposal using the John Lewis act as the template. But it is a waste of time unless Democrats are willing to skirt the filibuster rule requiring 60 Senate votes to get anything done.

It was 56 years ago this past Friday that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act. Critical was the law’s “preclearance” provision that required states and jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination to get approval from the Justice Department or a federal court before changing voting laws. They had the burden of showing those laws would not have a racially discriminatory result. Over the years the Justice Department blocked hundreds of proposed voting changes because they were found to be discriminatory.

But in an act of judicial activism in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the preclearance protections, basically saying they should have an expiration date, though Congress never set one. Many restrictive voting rules have passed since, particularly following President Trump’s defeat in 2020. Many would likely have been shot down as discriminatory if preclearance was still in effect.

Most fundamentally, a voting reform law must put the teeth back in the Voting Rights Act by restoring preclearance. It should prevent either party from using state legislative majorities to set up unfair voting district boundaries — gerrymandering — that essentially lock in districts for the party in control. And any voting reform bill must assure votes are counted and challenges reviewed in a nonpartisan fashion.

Absent these reforms, Republican legislators in many states will continue their gameplan to make it harder for minority citizens to vote; use the new census data to gerrymander districts in their favor; and potentially try to steal a close election.

Several GOP legislatures have given themselves the power to intervene if an election is close and controversial. In such a situation, they could potentially send electors to Washington to select the Republican presidential candidate — even if a Democrat appears closely ahead — by declaring their uncertainty over the results.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have been unwilling to carve out an exception to the filibuster to approve voting reforms. By placing a Senate tradition above the sanctity of self-rule, Manchin and Sinema are getting their priorities wrong.

No more excuses — pass voting reform.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.