Georgia's new voting restrictions give Democrats reason to push filibuster change but Senate realities remain

Georgia Republicans' successful effort to enact sweeping voting restrictions has ratcheted up pressure on Democrats to take unprecedented steps and change the rules of the US Senate in order to overhaul election law and expand voting access across the country.

But Democratic hopes are running into a major problem: The party lacks the votes to change the Senate's rules and doesn't have total support within its caucus on the electoral changes. The party is also sharply at odds with Republicans on election law changes -- all of which make the prospect that Congress will respond to Georgia's actions extremely grim, despite Democratic control of Washington. Proponents like Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate who has become the Democratic Party's leader on voting rights issues, have argued that the complicated politics of doing anything to change the filibuster could actually be solved by tailoring it to a specific issue like voting.