John,

The most crucial part of a functioning democracy is the right to vote.

For nearly six decades, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has helped to protect voters of color from racially discriminatory voting practices. But in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted one of its core protections and made it easier for states to restrict the right to voting.

Since then, 31 states have passed 103 voter suppression laws―which particularly impact voters of color, low-income voters, and vulnerable communities.[1] And right now, Congress is considering adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to voting, which seeks to exploit anti-immigrant sentiment but is really a voter suppression attack aimed at citizens in low-income communities, disproportionately people of color, who more frequently don’t have the required documents.

Make no mistake: These anti-democracy laws are a reaction to the historic, multiracial voter turnout we have witnessed in recent elections.

With right-wing lawmakers across the country actively working to pass bills that attack our freedom to vote, we need Congress to pass critical voter protection legislation now.

Tell Congress to combat voter suppression and pass critical voting rights legislation now.

There are four critical pieces of legislation that would empower everyone to participate fully in democracy by ensuring real congressional representation and ending partisan gerrymandering:

• The Freedom to Vote Act would remove barriers put in place by voter suppression laws that keep voters of color, voters with disabilities, and young voters from casting their ballots. It would establish automatic and online voter registration, create uniform early voting, and make Election Day a federal holiday. Additionally, it would restore felon voting rights, end partisan gerrymandering, stop shady PAC contributions, and require every college campus to have a polling location.

• The Native American Voting Rights Act is bipartisan legislation that upholds Native peoples’ constitutionally guaranteed right to vote by combating many of the challenges Native communities face when casting their ballots, such as limited dropbox and polling locations, lack of language assistance, and limited transportation.

• The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore and expand the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) that were stripped away by the Supreme Court. In 2013, the Supreme Court determined the protections of the 1965 VRA were no longer necessary and ended federal review of new voting laws by states with long histories of voter suppression. Since then, 31 states have passed more than 100 restrictive laws that suppress the vote of people of color, young voters, and voters with disabilities.

• The Washington D.C. Admission Act would provide the nearly 700,000 residents of DC, more than half of whom are Black and Hispanic, the same representation in the House and Senate that every other state gets. Currently the district, which has more residents than either Vermont or Wyoming, has no voting representation in Congress.

We are in the midst of an extremely important election year, the results of which will have a huge impact on the future of the United States―including who and what we invest in as a nation. We all need to work together to make sure that voters, especially those with low incomes and people of color, are able to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

Add your name to demand Congress pass the Freedom to Vote Act, the Native American Voting Rights Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Washington D.C. Admission Act to protect and strengthen our constitutional right to vote.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action