Since losing the 2008 election, the Republican Party has become radically anti-democratic. It has used all the tools at its disposal to reduce voters’ role in our system, including highly partisan redistricting, using Shelby County vs. Holder to weaken the Voting Rights Act, blocking President Obama’s judicial appointments, and most recently, using the Big Lie to incite the violent mob attack on our Capitol on January 6, 2021. Now Republican state legislatures are using the Big Lie as a pretext to restrict the voting methods that increased Democratic turnout in 2020, rig election laws in their favor, and enable GOP officials to overturn election results they don’t like.
Redistricting (redrawing maps of legislative districts after each census) is right around the corner – and as we saw in 2010, Republicans have weaponized it, to the point that even though Democrats won 1.4 million more House votes in 2012 than Republicans did, the GOP retained its House majority of 234 to 201. Republicans have skewed voting rights to their advantage for over a decade. We need a national reset, and the For the People Act is an efficient, nonpartisan way to support that process.
Call your Senators and tell them to put the For the People Act's Redistricting Reform to work right away!
Get Ready to Act to End the Filibuster and Protect Voting Rights
Join ISF, IEB and many other grassroots organizations at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland on July 7 at 6 PM for a rally to defend democracy by raising awareness of the urgent need to end the filibuster to protect voting rights for all Americans.
We are facing a make-or-break moment for S.1, the For The People Act. This summer marks a real Deadline for Democracy. We need to mobilize like never before to show our senators that there is overwhelming grassroots support for democracy reform, and we need to demand that they get it done now without letting the filibuster get in the way. If we want to protect voting rights, we must reform or kill the filibuster, or Republicans will keep using it to block legislation that Democrats would otherwise be able to pass with a simple majority vote! If you need more background, check out our blog post, The Filibuster Explained (Simplified).
No Climate, No Deal: The Civilian Climate Corps Is Essential
In the midst of an unprecedented heat wave, climate activists are demonstrating in Washington D.C. this week to insist on including the new Civilian Climate Corps in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework. We agree that this is necessary! Tell your Senators to advocate for a stronger Civilian Climate Corps that’s part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework.
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All are welcome to join our events!
Deadline for Democracy Rally in Support of S.1: Wednesday, July 7, 6-7 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland. Join ISF, IEB and many other grassroots organizations for an in-person rally to defend democracy and raise awareness of the need to protect voting rights for all Americans. RSVP here.
ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, July 8, 7:30–9 PM. Register here for a Zoom meeting to help us develop strategies to influence our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to enact a progressive agenda.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue. This week’s graphic is a chart explaining the “packing and cracking” of gerrymandering, created by Steve Nass, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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