The GOP learned a lot from the 2020 election, and only Congress and the President stand in the way of them turning those lessons into the biggest rollback of voting rights since the Jim Crow era.
While the Democrats currently control the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government, 23 state governments are controlled by Republicans and the legislatures in many of those states are advancing bills targeting voting practices that are seen as favorable to Democrats. Governors and legislators in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Montana and Texas are hoping to rein in voting by mail and early voting, tighten voter ID requirements, ban ballot drop boxes and hobble voter-registration drives. Although these measures are likely to be challenged in court, the Supreme Court–on which conservatives outnumber liberals six to three–is not likely to block the new provisions.
The president and Congress must act NOW to pass federal voting rights reform to counteract these state-level retrenchments..
On March 7th, the 56th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march, President Biden signed an executive order intended to promote voting rights. The President’s order comes just a few days after the House passed H. R. 1, legislation that:
- Guarantees no-excuse voting by mail,
- Provides for at least fifteen days of early voting for federal elections,
- Requires states to use government records to automatically register citizens to vote,
- Restores the right to vote to felons who have completed their sentences, and
- Requires the use of paper ballots, the only voting format that allows for 100% transparency and oversight
- R. 1 now moves on to the Senate, where Republican leaders have vowed to do everything they can to derail it. Passage of the bill in that chamber would require more than just a simple majority—Democrats need to get ten Republicans to back the bill to overcome a GOP filibuster.
In addition to the President’s executive order and H. R. 1, the Democrats are also working to restore the Voting Rights Act, which was undermined in 2013 by a Supreme Court ruling that allowed nine states with a history of discrimination to make changes to election laws without receiving federal government approval.
Here are three actions you can take now:
- Call your U.S. senators:
Encourage them to back H. R. 1 and the restoration of the Voting Rights Act
- Call the governor, your state representatives and your local elections supervisor:
Legislators in 43 states have introduced more than 250 bills aimed at making it more difficult to vote. That includes Florida, where lawmakers want to require voters who requested a mail-in ballot in 2020 to reapply to receive one in 2022. Currently, mail-in ballot requests are valid for two general election cycles.
- Tell your Republican friends and family:
Your Republican friends and family who are concerned about election security and integrity should back H. R. 1 because it mandates the use of paper ballots, eliminating their concerns about technology malfunctions.
The greatness of a Democracy lies in how fervently the government encourages and endorses measures to ensure that any eligible voter who wants to cast a vote gets to cast a vote. Anybody who believes that America is the greatest democracy in the world should be repulsed by attempts to limit or discourage voting.
