Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnellReuters

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell described the Democrats far reaching election reform bill, which they recently passed in the House of Representatives, as a “partisan power grab.”

Democrats say that the bill, H.R. 1, the For the People Act, is necessary: They state it will modernize and standardize election regulations and require states to let non-partisan commissions redraw congressional district borders.

However, Republicans believe that there is nothing non-partisan about the bill which they allege is an attempt by the Democrats to codify an electoral advantage for themselves into law.

“This is clearly an effort by one party to rewrite the rules of the political system,” McConnell said at the start of a rules committee hearing, reported Reuters. “We should be finding ways to rebuild trust, not destroy it further. That’s exactly what a partisan power grab would guarantee.”

Democrats allege that many GOP-run state legislatures are examining rule changes that voting rights activists say would greatly reduce turnout after a record number of Americans voted in November’s 2020 elections.

However, Republican politicians have said the bill specifically targets their party, calling the bill "anti-Republican."

"H.R. 1 is an attempt to use the Democrats' slim majority to un-level the playing field and take away the rights of roughly half of the voters in the country," said Mark Weaver, a GOP Ohio consultant, in an interview with ABC11.

The election reform bill has less change of passing in the Senate, where there is a 50-50 split. Democrats only hold a one-person majority. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Vice President, can vote as the tie-breaker.

The election reform legislation needs a 60-vote majority to pass the Senate, although some Democrats are vying to change the rules so that a bill could pass with a simple majority of 50.