Indivisibles,

It’s been 67 days since the House passed the Heroes Act -- yet the Senate has dragged its feet and done nothing to help the folks who are most impacted by COVID-19. While the pandemic affects us all in a myriad of ways, there’s no denying that the crisis weighs more heavily on Black people and communities of color.

In the last two months, the public health and economic crisis has intensified, and the ongoing pandemic of racial injustice in this country has gained global attention. And while videos of police brutality are some of the most obvious examples of racial injustice, racist policies that suppress the vote among Black- and brown-majority communities have become even more apparent with the spread of COVID-19.  

Racist policies that limit who can vote have existed for years (like Jim Crow laws) -- but policies like strict voter ID laws, poll taxes, felony disenfranchisement, and voter registration restrictions are the modern Jim Crow laws that were put in place to suppress participation in elections by a very specific group of people. And now that COVID-19 has spread unabated across the country, there are even more barriers preventing people from voting. Recent examples include hours-long lines in Wisconsin and Georgia due to a lack of poll workers and a lack of poll locations. Plain and simple: this is voter suppression.

At the end of the day, voter suppression is a racial justice issue. And because the tactics used to suppress the vote are wide-ranging, and their targets -- communities of color -- are impacted in various ways, the solutions have to be multifaceted as well. For example, vote by mail is a great solution, but it won’t help indigenous communities who have little access to the US Postal Service and who are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.  

Luckily, the Heroes Act addresses many of these key aspects of democracy reform that will help protect the vote ahead of the election. The Heroes Act includes critical protections and funding for the upcoming election in November to help expand access, secure ballots, and put in place key vote by mail infrastructure. The bill:

• Includes an additional $3.6 billion in election funding to expand vote by mail and maintain safe in-person voting locations -- for a total of $4 billion, the amount recommended by the Brennan Center to properly fund the election during COVID-19. 
• Allows any eligible voters in any state to request a mail-in ballot for any reason, and allows them to request them online.
• Adds $25 billion in funding for the United States Postal Service.
• Offers important measures like same-day and online voter registration, extended early voting days, etc. To read more about the Heroes Act and election protection, click here. 

Without these key protections in place, voter suppression will continue to impact Black and brown people. That’s why we have two asks for you: 

1. Start by calling your Senators and demand they pass the Heroes Act immediately. And keep calling back! We need to make sure that they hear us loud and clear: stop the COVID-19 crisis from spinning into an even deeper economic crisis that further fails Black people, other communities of color, and all people in America, by improving and passing the HEROES Act. Click here to call now. 
2. Save the date! Make calls this Thursday, July 23, for a national Vote by Mail Call-In day. We’ll be driving calls on Thursday to demand that Senators protect our elections by passing the Heroes Act with the additional $3.6 billion in election funding. 

As we continue to push for a more equitable democracy, we have to remember that this system wasn’t built to work for everyone -- the system isn’t broken, it’s working as it was intended. That’s why we have to work every day to reform our democracy and make it accessible to everyone.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team