John, Sen. Joe Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and every Senate Republican just extended an open invitation for election sabotage, right-wing violence, and the further erosion of our democracy.
I’m writing to let you know our plans for what’s next – and why we can’t give up.
Last night, Manchin and Sinema voted with Mitch McConnell and his entire caucus to uphold the filibuster. And, they're blocking a vote on the urgently needed bill to protect voting rights for all Americans, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. They’re shamelessly obstructing the pro-democracy priorities that overwhelming majorities support – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike.
This is an incredibly dangerous result for our democracy – and a tacit endorsement of extremist anti-voter state laws, gerrymandered legislative maps, and brazen, disinformation-fueled attempts to overturn legitimate election results.
This is an update I was hoping I wouldn’t have to send, John – because I know how Common Cause members like you have gone above and beyond to help advance this groundbreaking pro-democracy bill.
The thousands of volunteers in our Common Cause Action Team have dedicated themselves to educating the public and activating them to pressure their elected representatives in defense of our democracy. Our daily phonebanks drove in nearly 50,000 constituent calls to the Senate over the past year alone, filling Manchin and Sinema’s inbox on a constant basis.
Plus, we’ve published hundreds of letters and Op-Eds in local papers, sent more than 635,000 postcards, organized local events covered by the media, and done everything we can to show every senator how much voting rights matters to their constituents.
So, even if the media is focused on how Sens. Manchin and Sinema ignored voters last night, I want you to know that the 48 Senate votes we did win to fix the filibuster, votes that YOU helped deliver, represent an extraordinary accomplishment.
You see, we’ve been working to fix the Senate for years, and back during the Obama administration, only a handful of senators were willing to publicly call for an end to the filibuster – even for something as important as protecting our democracy.
But thanks to your action and dedication, we have dozens more senators on the record in support of breaking through the filibuster than we did just two years ago.
We will not yield and we will not give up on the chance to pass many of the reforms in the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act – on the state and federal level. But, we also must prepare ourselves to protect voters in the 2022 elections, where many voters will go to the polls under the draconian anti-voter measures that states like Texas and Georgia have recently passed.
John, that challenge is also a major opportunity. You see, thanks to volunteers like you stepping forward in response to last year’s brazen anti-voter attacks, we are on track to launch an even bigger voter protection effort than our record-breaking Protect The Vote 2020!
I repeat: in 2022, we will mobilize thousands of nonpartisan Election Protection volunteers – to help voters know and defend their rights, push back against disinformation, and ensure that every American can participate in our democracy.
And, John, that is precisely what we’ll need to do now that we know what we’re up against. That’s why I’m making a special request of you – not for financial support, but for you to keep showing the dedication that you’ve shown all through this campaign.
So, if you’re as upset as I am by today’s vote, I’m asking you to do something about it by committing to volunteer with Protect The Vote 2022. There are important roles for everyone, in every state – whether that’s helping voters in person, monitoring Facebook and Twitter for vote-suppressing disinformation, or spreading the word about voter registration deadlines, absentee ballots, and early voting.
You can volunteer for as little or as much time as you like – but please sign up today to show that you’re not giving up on our democracy >>
What happened in the Senate last night is a blow for all of us at Common Cause, and I’m sure for you too. I’m deeply worried about the future of our democracy – particularly now that all Senate Republicans and two Senate Democrats failed to take action to protect our freedom to vote.
But as has always been the case – when we don’t get the results we need from elected officials, it falls to We The People to take action. As the late American hero Rep. John Lewis said, “democracy is not a state. It is an act."
So, please know that while this is a setback, it’s not a reason to lose hope or give up. That’s something we simply can’t afford to do.
Instead, it’s a reason to redouble our efforts – and to commit to do all we can to ensure we leave a stronger democracy for the next generation. I can’t imagine doing anything else, and I know you won’t let me down.
In common cause,
Karen Hobert Flynn, President
and the team at Common Cause
