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Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, “to ensure that voters can safely and freely cast their ballots, repair and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, protect against election sabotage, stop partisan and racial gerrymandering, and limit the influence of dark money in politics so that billionaires can’t buy elections.” The letter emphasizes that already this year, 19 states have enacted 34 restrictive voting laws that make it harder for Americans – particularly in Black and Brown communities - to have a say in choosing their elected leaders. 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.   

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.

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.

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.

Today, Common Cause and over 200 organizations called on Senators to commit to reconsideration of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act immediately and to delay the coming Congressional recess until the legislation is passed. The letter, from members of the Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD) coalition and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights emphasizes that already this year, 19 states have enacted 33 restrictive voting laws that make it harder for Americans – particularly in Black and Brown communities - to have a say in choosing their elected leaders. It further points to the brazenly gerrymandered district maps being enacted around the country by politicians choosing their voters instead of the other way around for partisan advantage. Those maps are leaving Americans with legislatures and congressional delegations that do not even vaguely reflect the ballots cast by voters.