Friends,

Yesterday marked the 59th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Acts (VRA) of 1965.

For years, Jim Crow-era laws stripped away rights and freedoms from Black Americans. Voter suppression tactics like poll taxes, literacy tests, requirements to own property, and violence kept Black Americans from going to the polls and using their voices to demand equality and representation.

Signed at the height of the civil rights movement, the VRA prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Its passage strengthened our nation’s democracy, and led to a significant increase in Black voter registration and political representation, including  250,000 new registrations by the end of 1965.

Today we continue to fight to protect voting rights, here in Georgia and wherever and whenever voter suppression is taking place. Fair Fight was founded to address modern-day voter suppression, and it’s your support that helps us continue this important work. Join us today at 2PM EST for a special livestream event about the historical passage of the VRA and why we must work together to restore its protections.

Over the past decade, voting rights have continued to come under attack, and anti-democracy politicians at all levels of government have worked to dismantle the VRA’s protections. Eleven years ago, with the Shelby County v. Holder ruling, the Supreme Court found important parts of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional — ushering in a flood of voter suppression laws and practices targeting Black and brown voters. 

If anti-voter politicians gain power this year, they’ll double down on their voter suppression tactics for future elections, passing laws and policies that infringe on the right to vote. 

We have to keep fighting back. As the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis said, “Democracy is not a state. It is an act…” And protecting it requires all of us doing our part.

In honor of the VRA anniversary, will you rush a contribution of $25 or more to help ensure free and fair elections? Your gift today will make a real difference to protect the freedom to vote.

Thank you, friends.

Fair Fight