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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.
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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.
Will you donate to Demand Progress today?
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
Sources:
1. Slate, "The Only Way to Stop Voter Suppression Bills in the States," March 4, 2021
2. The Washington Post, "Here’s what H.R. 1, the House-passed voting rights bill, would do," March 5, 2021
3. Las Vegas Sun, "Law protecting voters’ rights is crucial to maintaining democracy," March 5, 2021
4. The Washington Post, "Here’s what H.R. 1, the House-passed voting rights bill, would do," March 5, 2021
5. Mother Jones, "The House Passes a Major Voting Rights Bill—and Creates a Helluva Battle in the Senate," March 3, 2021
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