Republican lawmakers in the United States Senate blocked a voting rights reform bill on Wednesday, marking a third impasse in the legislative chamber this year. The bill has been supported by multiple Democrat politicians, including President Joe Biden.

No members of the Republican party in the Senate demonstrated support for the voting rights reform bill, the vote of which ended at a tally of 51-49.

The legislation, which has now been tagged as Freedom to Vote Act, was slammed by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who called it an “election takeover scheme.”

On the other hand, United States Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said, “This bill is a compromise, but a good one. It’s a bill that every Senate Democrat is united behind enthusiastically”, according to reports from ABC News.

Before the vote, Schumer said, “Members of this body now face a choice. They can follow in the footsteps of our patriotic predecessors in this chamber. Or they can sit by as the fabric of our democracy unravels before our very eyes”, according to reports from Associated Press.

“The latest umpteenth iteration (of the bill) is only a compromise in the sense that the left and the far-left argued among themselves about exactly how much power to grab and in which areas,” McConnell, who recently met with Manchin about the bill, said Wednesday. “The same rotten core is all still there.”

Initial optimism that the measure would swiftly pass the Senate dissipated after several members of the Democratic caucus, including King, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, among others, made clear their reluctance to change the filibuster rules.

Manchin, who has said that any election overhaul needs bipartisan support, also sought changes to the voting bill to make it more palatable to Republicans, according to reports from Associated Press.