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Did you hear the news, friend?
President Biden was in Philadelphia today to deliver an impassioned speech on voting rights, which have been under siege in recent months by Republicans in Congress and state legislatures across the country who are trying desperately to restrict voting access.
Our own state legislature is one of the biggest culprits. There were more than a dozen bad bills drafted by state lawmakers that would either repeal or limit Act 77 — the historic bipartisan election reform bill that gave every Pennsylvanian the right to vote by mail — just because they were disappointed with the results of November’s election. Just two weeks ago, Governor Wolf had to veto HB 1300, a bill that would have added many unnecessary barriers to voting.
These discriminatory bills include unjust policies that have a disproportionate impact on Black and Brown voters, ranging from limiting the amount of time we have to register to vote and request a mail-in ballot, to eliminating the use of ballot drop boxes and implementing ridiculously strict signature requirements for mail-in voters. Women and voters in low income areas are also impacted by regressive “in-person only” voting policies, as limited voting hours conflict with childcare and work schedules.
As we prepare for even more attacks on our freedom to vote, we must keep President Biden’s words front and center for our lawmakers. We owe it to all the individuals who have experienced voter suppression for decades to protect and even improve the essential pro-voter reforms granted by Act 77.
Urge your lawmakers to oppose any efforts to repeal or limit our right to vote by mail >>
We’ve said time and time again that we can’t have pro-environment laws without pro-environment lawmakers — and by extension, we can’t have pro-environment lawmakers without fair, accessible, and open elections. Our democracy is healthiest when as many voters as possible come out and cast their ballots — no matter who they vote for. That’s why we should all be happy about the record turnout last November, which has also repeatedly proven to be one of the most secure elections in Pennsylvania’s history.
But instead of celebrating this huge achievement, some lawmakers would rather launch egregious attacks on our right to vote that would make it harder than ever to cast a ballot, especially for voters in many Black and Brown communities. Given the new vote-by-mail law was passed by our Republican-led legislature with bipartisan support, this change of course makes zero sense.
Rather than putting up more barriers and hurdles to voting, our lawmakers should be fighting voter suppression, not enabling it. Voting by mail was critical in helping Pennsylvanians make their voices heard during the ongoing pandemic, and it will continue to remove barriers to casting ballots in every election moving forward. We can’t take that away.
President Biden just outlined all of the ways his administration is working to further voting access, making this an opportune moment to remind our state leaders to follow suit and drop their egregious attacks. Tell your lawmakers that any efforts to restrict voting by mail are undemocratic, discriminatory, and unacceptable >>
Thanks for speaking up for a healthy democracy.
Molly Parzen
Interim Executive Director
Conservation Voters of PA
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