John, the Senate filibuster -- and any elected officials who still defend it -- are putting our democracy in grave danger.
Let me explain.
This year, more than 400 voter suppression bills were introduced at the state level -- many targeting Black and Brown voters in states like Texas and Georgia. And we know vote suppressors will be doubling down in 2022.
At the same time, politicians are drawing gerrymandered maps that are rigged for their own partisan advantage. And much of this anti-democracy manipulation is backed by Big Money special interests pouring in millions of dollars -- often in secret.
BEWARE: If the 2022 midterm elections are held under these conditions, millions of eligible Americans will be silenced and shut out. This easily -- and quite deliberately -- clears a path back to power for the anti-democracy, conspiracy-peddling forces led by former President Donald Trump.
THE GOOD NEWS: 50 senators are now on the record and ready to solve these problems by passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act -- and there is more momentum to get these bills passed.
THE BAD NEWS: These 50 votes mean little unless we fix the filibuster. You see, if we don’t, Senate Republicans will use it to block not only these groundbreaking pro-voter and anti-corruption bills -- but also climate action, workers’ rights, and other legislation to fight inequities.
Those are the stakes we’re up against. So long as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is allowed to hold our nation’s priorities hostage by abusing the Senate’s rules, Congress will remain largely gridlocked.
That’s why it’s time to draw a line in the sand -- and increase our massive public pressure on the Senate and some of its key members to do what it takes to protect voters' rights. We must not let Mitch McConnell abuse the filibuster to bury the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in his legislative graveyard.
There has been new and exciting momentum over the past two weeks to get these bills passed. President Biden said last week that he supports doing “whatever it takes” -- including reforming Senate rules -- to send voting rights bills to his desk. [1] This is major progress.
But now, Biden needs to use the full weight of his presidency and his bully pulpit to get this done -- and there will be real opportunities to do so in the coming days. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate will again take up voting rights legislation when senators return in January -- and signaled that they will consider changes to Senate rules if necessary.
That means we have a short amount of time to act. Here’s how we’ll get it done:
- Every day, Common Cause volunteers are calling thousands of voters in states like West Virginia, Arizona, and elsewhere -- connecting them directly to their senators to make sure they know that their constituents are looking to them to save our democracy.
- We’re also organizing among the constituencies that these key senators will listen to -- like our letter signed by over 500 Arizona small businesses to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, alongside similar efforts in Georgia, New Hampshire, and Delaware.
- And we’ve held dozens of on-the-ground mobilizations to show that Americans are united behind the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act -- and making sure lawmakers and the media are paying attention.
I’ve heard directly from key Senate offices that our strategy is working. And with Majority Leader Schumer publicly committed to bringing voting rights legislation up for another Senate vote, now is the time to put massive pressure on senators in their home states.
But if we don’t act quickly, this once-in-a-generation opportunity will slip through our fingers.
I don’t want to hand our democracy over to the vote suppressors -- and if you don’t either, I need your immediate help to fuel Common Cause’s response.
Your support for our Emergency Mobilization will help ensure we see this through to the end. If you believe, as I do, that this moment demands we give it our all, I hope you will rush your contribution of $3 or more today.
The next few weeks will quite literally determine what sort of democracy you and I leave for the next generation. Our action will determine whether everyone has a meaningful say in the decisions that affect us all -- or only a privileged few.
That’s why I believe that failure is not an option -- and why I am so glad to know I can count on your immediate action right now.
Thanks for all you do,
Karen Hobert Flynn, President
and the team at Common Cause
1) https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-tells-muir-filibuster-exception-voting-rights-takes/story?id=81919381
