Friend, 

This past week, I spoke with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC about voting rights – because our democracy is under attack and we're not doing enough to fight back. If the Senate can change its rules to fix the debt ceiling, it must do the same to save our democracy. We need to act now to pass federal voting rights legislation and protect our sacred right to vote.

Ever since a record number of voters powered our historic Democratic victories in January, Republican lawmakers have introduced over 425 bills with voter suppression provisions. They've doubled down on their lies, their deceptions and their conspiracy theories – in a systematic effort to suppress our right to vote. Nowhere is that assault on our rights more threatening than in Georgia. 

What we are witnessing is a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights and voter access unlike anything we've seen since the Jim Crow era – and we're running out of time to counter the GOP's attacks.

Passing voting rights legislation is the most important thing this Congress can do. We cannot rest until every eligible American, no matter what state they live in, can make their voice heard at the ballot box. We cannot rest until the dangerous legacy of Jim Crow is eradicated from our country and Black people, people of color – everyone – can participate fully in our democracy.

Here's what I need you to know, friend: There is no procedure and no rule that outweighs the people's constitutional rights. Your vote is your voice, and your voice is powerful. If it weren't, then politicians wouldn’t be trying to take it away. Your voice is what flipped the Senate blue and sent me, Georgia's first-ever Black senator, to Washington. And your voice is what I need today to protect our right to vote at this critical crossroads. 

I'm looking for 15,000 grassroots folks to join me in this fight for voting rights by signing my urgent new petition by midnight tonight – and I'm counting on you to be one of them. This couldn't be more important, but it looks like I'm still missing your name: Will you add your name right now to defend voting rights and protect our democracy? 

A vote is a kind of prayer about the world we want for our children – and our prayers are stronger when we pray together. Thanks for speaking up with me.

– Rev. Raphael Warnock