BATON ROUGE - In front of a crowd so large that it spilled over into three rooms, two bills aimed at protecting voters failed to make it through a Senate and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Wednesday.

Some Louisiana lawmakers wanted to criminalize actions that intentionally suppress voters, as states across the country contemplate creating their own versions of the "Voting Rights Act."

The two bills, backed by Democratic State Senators Regina Barrow and Royce Duplessis, would have provided protections for voters, imposed fines or jail time on anyone who attempts to intimidate voters and ensured transparency in the voting process.

It's something that's been U.S. law since 1964, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Federal Voting Rights Act, which outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes.

Ashley Shelton with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice helped organize the large turnout at the Capitol, saying this issue in particular is getting a lot of public feedback.

"The community continues to show up on the issue of voting rights," Shelton said.

At the federal level, a bill called the "Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility," or SAVE America Act, claims to also ensure new election and voting reforms.

The Republican backed bill requires that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections and could require voters to provide birth certificates or U.S. passports when registering to vote. Shelton joins other opponents of such federal restrictions, saying states should govern their own elections.