Dear Friend,

An Arizona legislator just admitted the point behind the wave of voter-suppression bills coming from his state and dozens of others:

"There’s a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans,” Rep. John Kavanagh told CNN. “Democrats value as many people as possible voting. . . . [Republicans] don’t mind putting security measures in that won’t let everybody vote—but everybody shouldn’t be voting.”¹

Passing H.R. 1—the For the People Act—is the most important thing Congress can do right now to protect the right to vote from right-wing state legislators like Kavanagh and others like him across America who are determined to undermine our democracy.

The For the People Act, to expand and protect voting rights, just passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Now we’re fighting with everything we have to get it passed in the Senate. Will you chip in?

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Iowa just joined the more than a dozen other states that made it more difficult to vote, and its new measure is preposterous.

The state’s new law cuts early voting by nine days and closes polling places on Election Day an hour earlier than before, making it exponentially harder for people in overcrowded districts and those in low-wage jobs to vote.²

Republicans are trying to roll back voting access laws in 43 states, including Georgia—reducing or eliminating early voting and mail-in voting, instituting racist voter ID laws, and more.^3,4

The For the People Act was always important. Now, because the GOP is working overtime in so many states to suppress the vote, passing H.R. 1 is critical to our democracy.

H.R. 1 implements automatic voter registration, restores voting rights to felons who’ve done their time, ends partisan gerrymandering, and curbs the influence of corporate money in our elections. It also protects early voting and mail-in voting, both essential in the age of COVID-19. Congress has the power to override state election laws when it comes to federal elections, which makes H.R. 1 crucial to resisting right-wing attacks on voting rights.⁵

We know that not a single Republican senator is going to vote for H.R. 1. Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee even said it was "written in hell by the devil himself."⁶

So we’re doubling down on every single Senate Democrat to end the filibuster and send H.R. 1 to President Joe Biden’s desk.

H.R. 1, the For the People Act, will protect and expand voting rights at a crucial point in American history. Will you chip in to demand that the U.S. Senate send it to President Biden’s desk?

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

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Sources:

1. Intelligencer, "‘Everybody Shouldn’t Be Voting,’ Republican Blurts Out," March 11, 2021
2. Des Moines Register, "Latino civil rights group sues over Iowa's new election law, which cuts early and Election Day voting," March 9, 2021
3. Pew Research Center, "Turnout soared in 2020 as nearly two-thirds of eligible U.S. voters cast ballots for president," January 28, 2021
4. Brennan Center for Justice, "State Voting Bills Tracker 2021," February 24, 2021
5. Slate, "Unpacking the Fight Over H.R. 1, the Massive Voting Rights Bill," March 8, 2021
6. Business Insider, "Republican Sen. Mike Lee says Democratic voting rights bill was 'written in hell by the devil himself'," March 10, 2021

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