Dear Friend,
The House of Representatives just passed the For the People Act (H.R. 1),
a landmark voting-rights bill to combat the more than 250 voter
suppression bills that have swept state legislatures since the 2020
election.^1
But unless we get rid of the filibuster, Republicans will block H.R. 1
from passing the Senate.^2
The filibuster, created to defend slavery and preserved to defend Jim
Crow, means that the Democratic-controlled Senate needs ten Republican
votes to pass the For the People Act—votes from the very same party behind
the widespread voter suppression in the first place.
This is absurd. Demand Progress is mobilizing grassroots pressure to end
the filibuster and pass crucial voting rights legislation.
[ [link removed] ]Donate to Demand Progress and help defeat the filibuster in order to
protect everyone’s right to vote.
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New laws like H.R. 1 are needed now more than ever because
Republican-controlled state legislatures are doing everything possible to
stop people from voting.
In Georgia, they outlawed Sunday voting in order to end the popular Souls
to the Polls program that helped turnout. In Arizona, they are requiring
mail-in ballots to be notarized and legalizing massive voter roll
purges.^3
The House version of H.R. 1 institutes long-overdue voter-protection
policies. It protects early voting and ensures polling place times outside
of normal business hours. It requires automatic voter registration and
information updates so that people don’t have to jump through hoops to be
able to vote. It requires at least 15 days of early voting and easy
mail-in options. And it provides for nonpartisan districting committees
that will put an end to partisan gerrymandering that erases the votes of
people of color and people in poverty.^4
And Republicans in the Senate want to preserve the filibuster so they can
stop H.R. 1 and ensure that those terrible laws take effect.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already called H.R. 1 a “power
grab” and has committed to leveraging his caucus to block the bill.^5 And
since the filibuster rule requires 60 votes to move bills like H.R. 1 to
the floor for a vote, McConnell currently has the power to stop the For
the People Act.
However, Senate Democrats only need 51 votes to end the filibuster for
good, and with Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaking vote, it
could happen right now. Unfortunately, senators, including Joe Manchin and
Kyrsten Sinema, are standing in the way. That’s why Demand Progress is
collecting signatures and rallying grassroots pressure to convince every
single Senate Democrat to overturn the filibuster.
[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to Demand Progress today?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. Slate, "The Only Way to Stop Voter Suppression Bills in the States,"
[ [link removed] ]March 4, 2021
2. The Washington Post, "Here’s what H.R. 1, the House-passed voting
rights bill, would do," [ [link removed] ]March 5, 2021
3. Las Vegas Sun, "Law protecting voters’ rights is crucial to maintaining
democracy," [ [link removed] ]March 5, 2021
4. The Washington Post, "Here’s what H.R. 1, the House-passed voting
rights bill, would do," [ [link removed] ]March 5, 2021
5. Mother Jones, "The House Passes a Major Voting Rights Bill—and Creates
a Helluva Battle in the Senate," [ [link removed] ]March 3, 2021
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