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Confused New Yorkers are trying an experiment in ranked choice voting as a fraction of the city turned out for the Democratic primary.Senate Republicans exploited undemocratic parliamentary rules to block Democrats' voting rights proposal.

In the US Senate, it was a show vote that fell along party lines on a step that would technically have opened debate on the issue of voting rights.

The irony of the filibuster, a delaying tactic meant to keep debate going as long as necessary, is that in today's Washington it functionally means there's no real debate on much of anything on the Senate floor.

So we have not the world's greatest deliberative body but rather a great barricade to major legislation, which is exactly what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants.

"The Senate is only an obstacle when the policy is flawed and the process is rotten," he said, pledging a GOP united against the voting rights legislation.

Today, the Senate's going to fulfill our founding purpose, stop the partisan power grab."

The legislation would have done a great many things with the intention of making it easier and more streamlined for more Americans to vote, which is also the opposite of the current GOP platform.

Fact check: Breaking down 10 claims about the Democrats' elections bill

While Democrats want more national standards in voting, Republicans are working hard at the state level to make it ever so slightly more difficult, hoping to lop off enough votes at the margins to take back the House and Senate in 2022.

There is one simple reason Republicans can use majorities in state legislatures to curb voting access while Democrats can't use their majorities in Washington to open it up.

He wants the parties to come together and debate, and this show vote -- proving the parties won't work together on a key issue -- could have been a moment of conversion for him.

A Manchin-style compromise would probably strike most Americans as pretty fair.

According to CNN's report, he's "said he's open to backing several of the provisions in the so-called For the People Act, including declaring Election Day a public holiday, expanding early voting to at least 15 consecutive days and banning partisan gerrymandering."

All things Democrats like.

But he's also approving of a GOP priority:

"In return for his crucial support, Manchin wants to require identification to vote, which many progressives view as discriminatory toward racial minorities but which Republicans see as essential to deterring potential voter fraud."

Who needs a voice?

Most Americans -- 71% -- want easier access to earlier voting, which is what Democrats are pushing.

Even more Americans -- 80% -- support requiring an ID to vote, which Republicans could do in this legislation if they bought in.

Manchin has a point that lawmakers should work together for good legislation that people support.