COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Senate passed a bill along party lines on Wednesday to repeal a controversial election law that is up for a voter referendum this fall.

The vote followed a lively floor debate that left Democrats insulted and damaged the chances of any bipartisan compromise on future election law reform.

Democrats unanimously voted against the repeal, although they opposed the election law because of concerns about voter suppression. They said repealing the law would unconstitutionally circumvent voters’ right to referendum.

“This is the first time in Ohio history where a bill has been passed to stop a referendum,” Senate Democratic leader Eric Kearney, of Cincinnati, said on the floor. “It is a historic moment of a lack of trust for the people of Ohio.”

The GOP-backed elections law, known as House Bill 194, originally was signed into law last year. Democrats and voting rights groups, who oppose the law because it restricts early voting opportunities, mounted a referendum campaign before the law took effect and gathered more than 300,000 signatures to put the law up for a vote on Nov. 6.

The bill to repeal HB 194 now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. Speaker William G. Batchelder has said he supports the repeal.

Senate Republicans said they were confused why Democrats would oppose the repeal when it would have the same effect as if voters reject the law this fall.

“I continue to be baffled by the fact we are doing exactly what the people who are putting the referendum on the ballot asked us to do,” Senate President Tom Niehaus said. “That’s what we’ve done.”

Democrats, however, claimed the repeal does not reset election laws. Provisions to close off in-person absentee voting the weekend before an election - originally contained in HB 194 - were included in a separate bill passed last year. Democrats introduced an amendment to restore such weekend voting, but Republicans rejected the amendment because they said the provision is not covered by the referendum.

Republicans questioned Democrats’ true motivation for opposing the repeal.

Sen. Bill Seitz, a Republican from Cincinnati, said Democrats wanted to keep the referendum on the ballot to drive up voter turnout and help President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. During his floor speech, Seitz held up an email the Obama campaign sent out Tuesday calling on Ohioans to preserve the referendum.

The accusation bristled Democrats. “I don’t need the president of the United States to tell me when and how to stand up for what is right,” said Sen. Nina Turner, a Democrat from Cleveland.

Republicans said they sought the repeal in hopes of crafting new election reforms to replace HB 194. But the spirited floor debate on Wednesday left the Senate’s Democratic leader unwilling to negotiate.

“Not after what happened today, no,” Kearney said. “They are misrepresenting our arguments and they are not treating us as equal partners in the legislative process. When you have that type of situation, that is not fertile ground for a compromise.”