Common Cause Texas Statement on Growing Momentum for National Voting Rights Legislation

Statement from Common Cause Texas Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez

The Texas Democrats who brought the fight for our democracy to our nation’s capital are responsible for helping to bring national attention to the need to protect our freedom to vote. Their courageous and selfless actions to ensure every Texan has a voice in our democracy must be commended. 

The testimony that Texas Democrats provided before House Oversight’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on Thursday made clear the challenge we are facing in Texas with vindictive, anti-democratic leadership from Greg Abbott and his corrupt enablers. But they also show why this fight is bigger than Texas. It’s about standing up to a dangerous tide of anti-democracy laws written by Big Lie lobbyists who have pledged “to right the wrongs of November” as their dark money floods state capitols across the country.  

Without a level playing field, we cannot “out-organize” the insurrectionists, Big Lie lobbyists, and Jim Crow revivalists who want to silence, instead of engage, our nation’s rising electorate. We are encouraged by the news from Senator Klobuchar that the U.S. Senate is making progress on critical voting rights legislation. That agreement cannot come soon enough.  

It’s been 56 years since the Voting Rights Act passed, 15 years since it was reauthorized by Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, 8 years since the Supreme Court struck its first blow against the VRA and more than 30 days since the Supreme Court gutted most of what remained of the landmark civil rights legislation. The time to act is now.