Friend –

In a monumental election this Tuesday, voters in Kansas defeated a ballot measure that would've given politicians unlimited authority to restrict access to abortion care in the state.

People came to the polls and made it clear that abortion is a right we will fight for – a right that now continues to be protected by the Kansas Constitution. That is decidedly the power of voters.

Coincidentally, tomorrow also happens to mark the 57^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) – a landmark legislation that was signed into law at the height of the civil rights movement, which you can and should dig deeper on by reading our latest piece posted up about it today.

But why bring these two matters up together today? Let us explain.

The VRA was designed to protect voting rights for all Americans – especially Black voters, who have continuously been disenfranchised throughout our history. For decades since its signing, the VRA stood as a xxxxxx against racially discriminatory voting practices. But in recent years, Supreme Court decisions – including 2013's Shelby County v. Holder and 2021's Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee – have gutted the heart of the VRA.

This opened the floodgates to wave after wave of anti-voting legislation and, in no small way, helped establish state legislatures across the country that do not accurately represent the will of the people.

Many of those legislatures in turn have passed increasingly unpopular and hostile restrictions against people's rights throughout the years – including a surge of abortion bans that have been unfolding long before the recent fall of Roe.

So especially as elections like Kansas' continue to take place across the states from now until November, the ACLU knows more than ever that attacks on our civil liberties are not isolated – and the fight to defend them cannot be won that way either. We must be present and relentless on every level and at every front. At the ACLU, that's exactly what we're doing.

That's also why we're writing to you about this today – to remind you that while so much is at stake, we're not giving up. On the ballot, in the courts, and in state legislatures, we won't stop fighting for your safe and equal right to vote, nor will we stop defending every other right currently under threat.

And victories like in Kansas – hard-won by the collective efforts of dedicated organizers, volunteers, and activists like you – show us that together we can and will win.

So please stay tuned for more on how you can take part in our work for the midterms and beyond – and in the meantime, take a second to reflect on the VRA and the crucial fight that's before us.

Thank you for being with us,

The ACLU Team