Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that he intends to bring the D.C. Voting Rights bill (S. 1257) to the Senate floor during the week of September 17. The bill passed the House this spring and has already cleared two Senate committees, though Reid was unwilling to bring the bill to the floor before the August recess, expressing concern at the time that it had not quite secured the 60 votes it would need to avoid a filibuster.

So does this decision mean the bill now has 60 votes? The Washington Post says it might, but D.C. Vote Director Ilir Zherka released the following statement:

We believe we have the votes to pass this bill in the Senate. We call on Senator Mitch McConnell to reject any efforts to filibuster this bill, which will expand democracy to the tax-paying residents of our nation's capital. A filibuster of this bill would be unconscionable. No Senator has filibustered a voting rights bill since the days of segregation.

So, doesn't sound like it's totally clear about avoiding that filibuster. We suppose we'll have to put our faith in the Majority Leader that bringing the bill to the floor at this time is the best thing to do -- remember, even if we do avoid the filibuster, the White House is still sitting on a veto threat. Still, this is an undeniably thrilling development for those who have been part of the voting rights fight for so long. As always, you can be sure that DCist will be here to live-blog any debate on the Senate floor later this month. Stay tuned.