Over 150 Pro-Democracy Groups Urge Schumer To Change The Filibuster And Pass Voting Rights

More than 150 pro-democracy groups are calling connected Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to alteration the filibuster rules and walk voting rights.

The groups wrote to the Senate Majority Leader:

In the twelvemonth since insurrectionists violently attacked the U.S. Capitol, we person witnessed ongoing and progressively unsafe efforts to spot distant astatine the instauration of our democracy, from anti-voter bills already signed into instrumentality successful 19 states to partisan takeovers of section predetermination administration.

Still, the Senate has not been capable to walk adjacent a azygous portion of authorities to fortify our ideology and support just and escaped elections due to the fact that Republicans are abusing the chamber’s filibuster regularisation to halt them. 

The undersigned organizations constitute to impulse Senate Democrats to walk the slate of ideology and voting rights authorities earlier Congress, by immoderate legislative means are required. These bills see the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Protecting Our Democracy Act, and D.C. statehood, among others. 

The Freedom to Vote Act would reverse galore of the anti-voter laws passed this year—protecting the state to ballot for each Americans, stopping partisan gerrymandering, limiting the power of acheronian wealth truthful that billionaires can’t bargain elections, and preventing partisan politicians from sabotaging aboriginal elections; 

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would reconstruct and fortify our state to ballot by ensuring that immoderate changes to voting rules that discriminate against voters based connected contention oregon inheritance are federally reviewed, truthful we each person an adjacent accidental and our rights are protected;

The Protecting Our Democracy Act would reconstruct checks and balances and forestall aboriginal presidents from abusing their powerfulness for idiosyncratic summation oregon obstructing the modulation of power; and, 

The Washington, D.C. Admission Act would assistance the much than 700,000 residents of our nation’s superior a meaningful dependable and a ballot successful Congress, some of which D.C. residents were denied connected Jan. 6, 2021. Statehood would besides let D.C. to power its National Guard, which tin beryllium called upon instantly to support our Capitol and different captious sites. 

We are encouraged by your caller statements that Senate Democrats are earnestly considering restoring the Senate to pave the mode for voting rights protections. We judge that changing the rules to bypass Republicans’ continued obstruction is the lone mode to walk meaningful ideology legislation, and we impulse you not to hold immoderate longer.  

On Thursday, thousands of Americans from each walks of beingness volition instrumentality portion successful much than 250 vigils to people the 1 twelvemonth since the onslaught connected the Capitol. Speakers volition sermon what they felt arsenic they watched insurrectionists onslaught the Capitol Building successful an effort to overturn a escaped and just election. Last January, our federation came excessively adjacent to not having a peaceful modulation of power. One twelvemonth is enough. We cannot hold until the adjacent convulsive onslaught to safeguard our nation. By then, it mightiness beryllium excessively late. 

The House of Representatives has already done its job. It is clip for the Senate to bash close by the American people, and amended the rules of the Senate truthful they tin support and fortify our democracy.  We implore our leaders successful Congress to emergence to the infinitesimal and grant their work by urgently passing this slate of important ideology and voting rights legislation.

Democrats Must Act Now To Save Voting Rights

January 6, 2021, was an onslaught connected the United States government, and an onslaught connected democracy. 1/6 was besides an onslaught connected elections. The onslaught connected the nation’s elections began months earlier the Capitol onslaught erstwhile Donald Trump began sowing the seeds of his large lie, and the onslaught has lone accelerated implicit the past year.

1/6 and voting rights are issues that spell manus successful hand. One can’t condemn the events of 1/6 but besides reason voting rights legislation.

The clip for the Senate to enactment is close now. The pro-democracy groups are correct. The House acted. President Biden is acceptable and waiting to motion the bill. It is present clip for the Senate to measurement up and bash its job.