Obama backs Manchin’s voting rights compromise before crucial Senate vote

Former president calls Democrats' proposal a product of compromise' and says the future of the country is at stake

Barack Obama has backed conservative West Virginia Democratic senator Joe Manchin's voting rights proposal, calling it a product of compromise" as the landmark legislation struggles towards a crucial vote in the US Senate on Tuesday.

The former US president weighed in, as did his wife and former first lady, Michelle Obama, decrying Republican efforts in many statehouses across the country to bring in new laws that restrict voting, and urging Congress to pass federal legislation before it's too late".