Dear Friend,

The Supreme Court just slashed the Voting Rights Act beyond recognition.

The extreme right-wing majority, led by Justice Samuel Alito, upheld two
Arizona laws designed to make it more difficult to vote, especially for
people of color.^1 And the Court's decision further weakened the Voting
Rights Act, suggesting that the dozens of other voter suppression laws
sweeping the nation will be held up as well.

On the eve of Independence Day, the bedrock of our democracy—the right to
vote—is in Congress' hands. Can you step up and help in this urgent
moment?

[ [link removed] ]Donate to Demand Progress and help our emergency effort to pass
legislation to stop nationwide voter suppression.

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The appeals courts that had examined the Arizona laws all found that not
only did the legislation make it more difficult for people of color to
vote, that was the intent of the laws in the first place—an obvious
violation of the Voting Rights Act.^2

But the majority of the Court didn't care. Alito, joined by Clarence
Thomas and Trump appointees Neal Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Comey
Barrett, used the baseless fraud allegations spread by Donald Trump and
other extremist legislators as the means to uphold racist voter
suppression laws.^3

In other words, we just cannot rely on the Supreme Court to protect our
rights anymore.

Voting rights are up to Congress now. The Senate can pass H.R. 1 and
standardize early voting and vote by mail, as well as the John Lewis
Voting Rights Act to reinstate much of what the Supreme Court has
undone.^4 And Congress can expand the Supreme Court to help protect voting
rights.

That's why we need to ramp up grassroots energy in this critical moment,
and let these senators know that this bill is a priority for the
people—and our democracy.

[ [link removed] ]Will you donate to Demand Progress today?

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

P.S. Your contributions are what keep us nimble and let us be prepared to
take on important fights like these as they happen. [ [link removed] ]Will you become a
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Sources:

1. NBC News, "Supreme Court upholds restrictive Arizona voting laws in
test of Voting Rights Act," [ [link removed] ]July 1, 2021
2. Slate, "The Supreme Court Just Mangled the Voting Rights Act Beyond
Recognition," [ [link removed] ]July 1, 2021
3. Ibid.
4. The Washington Post, "How is the John Lewis Voting Rights Act different
from H.R. 1?," [ [link removed] ]May 31, 2021
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