John, this week’s shameful display in the United States Senate will certainly have consequences.
By joining every Senate Republican and voting to uphold Mitch McConnell’s filibuster, Sens. Manchin and Sinema have given the green light to the far-right, anti-democracy extremists that have besieged our democracy all year.
The sad fact is, the forces behind anti-voter laws, gerrymandered maps, and attempts at outright election sabotage will only be emboldened by these senators’ actions. We unfortunately must prepare for them to take their disgusting political schemes to new lows in the coming year.
Don’t believe me? Right now, Missouri Republicans are debating whether to draw a legislative map that favors them 6 seats to 2 – or to go even further and try to fit all of the state’s Democrats into a single, ultra-packed district! [1]
Meanwhile, in Texas, record numbers of voters are having their registrations rejected under the state’s new ultra-strict rules [2] – even as the state stubbornly refuses to implement secure online voter registration. Now, the state says they’re running out of paper registration forms!
And sadly, this could be just the tip of the iceberg – with state legislatures set to take up hundreds of new bills between now and November that restrict voting, suppress voters, or override election officials. [3]
But John, I want to tell you about another extraordinary outcome from this week’s major letdown – and why I think it’s our best hope to preserve our democracy in the face of these unprecedented threats.
You see, right after Wednesday night’s vote, I asked every Common Cause member to not give up – I asked them to commit, right here and right now, that they will volunteer with our historic Protect The Vote 2022 effort.
And thousands – yes, literal thousands – of you answered the call. You signed up in droves for the now even more necessary work of defending our democracy and fighting for every American’s right to be heard.
John, this could not have come at a more important time. That’s because our opponents – those who are willing to silence voters in order to win, and those who would overturn election results that don’t go their way – have also been hard at work since January of last year.
They’ve made repeating Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 elections into a litmus test for the 2022 Republican primaries. They’ve built bigger and more dangerous online disinformation networks. And, they’ve passed new new restrictions that voters will need to grapple with at the polls.
That’s what makes this year’s Election Protection effort more important than possibly any year before. Make no mistake – whether or not we should continue to have a democracy is up for grabs in this year’s elections, which makes it vitally important that every voter has their say.
So, John, I am writing to you today in hopes you will step up for voters and help make that possible. You see, it costs about $50 to train, equip, and place each Election Protection volunteer we field – and thanks to this week’s volunteer surge, we’ll need to scale up our operation rapidly.
Your investment in just one volunteer today can result in thousands of voters being helped throughout primaries, early voting, and Election Day. Any amount that you can spare will make a major difference – the first primaries are just weeks away, and early money is critically important.
John, we can’t give up or give in to cynicism. That’s exactly what the extremists behind the GOP’s anti-democracy turn are counting on. So, if you’re all-in to help Protect The Vote in 2022, can you step up with your contribution of $3 or more today?
I’ll be honest: it was devastating to watch 52 senators choose an archaic, outdated rule – one used for over a century to impede civil rights and voting rights – over preventing our democracy from backsliding into authoritarianism.
But hearing from Common Cause members like you – who know this is a fight we won’t and can’t afford to give up on – has renewed my resolve.
I am ready to go all out this year – and make sure that the response to the calculating, mean-spirited, and shameless attacks we are up against is a wave of civic action from We the People to ensure that all of our rights are protected.
We can’t do it without you, and I’m glad to know you’re in this fight with us.
Karen Hobert Flynn, President
and the team at Common Cause
P.S. If you missed yesterday’s message, you haven’t missed your chance to commit to serve as a Protect The Vote 2022 volunteer >>
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/20/republicans-redistricting-more-ruthless-527445
[2] https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/13/texas-voting-mail-rejections/
[3] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-december-2021
