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In the United States, we are stronger when every American votes, when every American has a say in the future of this country. President Biden made very clear today that he knows we are at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history and that a Republican minority in the U.S. Senate must not be allowed to turn back the clock and allow a new generation of Jim Crow laws to take root. He clearly stated that the Senate rules must not tolerated when they strip Americans – particularly Black and Brown Americans - of their fundamental right to vote. Those rules must be changed if they are abused. Simple majorities in state legislatures are deciding who can vote and who cannot while the filibuster has allowed a minority in the Senate to prevent Congress from acting to prevent voter suppression and protect the voting rights of every American.

Today, Common Cause is emphasizing to every U.S. Senator that voting rights protections must remain their priority and that any reforms to how electoral votes for president and vice president are counted are no substitute for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The letter to Senators emphasizes that some legislatures across the country are already introducing new bills to make it harder for Americans to have a say in choosing their elected leaders. The new bills come on top of last year’s voter suppression push that saw 19 states enact 34 restrictive voting laws.

ATLANTA – Voting rights groups and Georgia voters filed a lawsuit in federal court today charging that the 6th, 13th, and 14th Congressional Districts of Georgia violate the Constitution and unlawfully diminish the voting power of voters of color. The case, Common Cause, et al. v. Brad Raffensperger, et al., was brought on behalf of Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Georgia, and individual Georgians. They are being represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Dechert LLP.

January 6th interrupted two centuries of the peaceful transfer of power. It was staged by a domestic enemy fueled by the lies fed by the former President, some Republican politicians, and their allies who tried to subvert a bedrock democratic principle: that voters decide elections.

Today, Common Cause urged every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on the resolution to certify a criminal contempt citation against former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to his role in, and knowledge of, the January 6th insurrection at the United States Capitol - a brazen attempt to overturn the 2020 election which resulted in multiple deaths and left hundreds seriously injured. The letter emphasizes that the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection referred the criminal contempt charges to the full House in a unanimous, bipartisan vote. The letter also notes that Common Cause plans to key-vote this legislation in our Democracy Scorecard, which we send to our 1.5 million members.

As President Biden convenes his international Summit for Democracy this week, he faces a crisis of democracy here at home. Bolstering international democracy is critically important, but we must also get our own house in order. Our crisis did not begin with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, nor did it end there.  Parroting Donald Trump’s Big Lie and aided and abetted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act under Chief Justice John Roberts, GOP-controlled legislatures across the country have ushered in a new Jim Crow era.