Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., center, flanked by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., talks to reporters before a key test vote on the For the People Act, a sweeping bill that would overhaul the election system and voting rights, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The bill is a top priority for Democrats seeking to ensure access to the polls and mail in ballots, but it is opposed by Republicans as a federal overreach.

WASHINGTON — The Democrats' sweeping attempt to rewrite U.S. election and voting law stalled in the Senate Tuesday, blocked by a wall of Republican opposition to what would have been the largest overhaul of the electoral system in a generation.

The bill, known as the For the People Act, would touch on virtually every aspect of how elections are conducted, striking down hurdles to voting that advocates view as the civil rights fight of the era, while curbing the influence of money in politics and limiting partisan influence over the drawing of congressional districts.

But many in the GOP say the measure represents a breathtaking federal infringement on states' authority to conduct their own elections without fraud — and one meant to ultimately benefit Democrats.

It failed on a 50-50 vote after Republicans, some of whom derided the bill as the “Screw the People Act,” denied Democrats the 60 votes needed to begin debate. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to hold her office, presided over the chamber as the bill failed.

“The fight's not over,” she said afterward.

The rejection forces Democrats to reckon with what comes next for their top legislative priority in a narrowly divided Senate. They've touted the measure as a powerful counterweight to scores of proposals advancing in GOP-controlled statehouses that tighten rules surrounding voting.