As the Senate worked on a bill to address problems in the electoral system made plain by the tangled outcome of the 2000 presidential election, progress stalled over issues of voter fraud and civil liberties. The original bill included a provision requiring first-time voters who register by mail to provide a driver's license, pay stub, utility bill, bank statement, or government check to prove identity and residency. Progressives, however, feared the provision would disenfranchise poor and disabled voters. Democrats proposed a compromise amendment that would have required a signature instead. The vote at issue here was over a Republican motion to table (kill) this amendment, and it failed, 46-51. But without the 60 votes needed to end debate on the amendment and bring it to a final vote--and seeing inclusion of this amendment as a make-or-break issue--this Democratic success set up a standoff on the larger bill.