Senate Attempt to Overturn Veto of Voter Bill Fails

A bid by Senate Democrats to override President Bush’s veto of a voter-registration bill failed Tuesday.

Despite a big pre-adjournment push by the Democratic leadership, the chamber fell five votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn the veto. The vote was 62 to 38, almost the same margin by which senators passed the bill last May. The so-called “motor voter” bill would have enabled Americans to register to vote when they obtained drivers’ licenses or welfare checks.

The Senate’s failure to muster the needed majority had been expected. Democrats scheduled the vote only to help them call attention to the veto during the fall presidential campaign. With the Senate vote failing, the House is unlikely to take up the issue.

The Senate defeat means Democrats still have not overridden even one Bush veto. The President has rejected 32 pieces of legislation since he took office in 1989, without once being reversed.

In all, 62 senators voted to override the voter-registration veto, while 37 Republicans and one Democrat voted to sustain it. California’s senators split on party lines: Democrat Alan Cranston voted for an override and Republican John Seymour voted against.