Public Pressure Campaign For The Senate To Pass Voting Rights Bills

On the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 MAGA/QAnon violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, over 150 national and local pro-democracy organizations released a letter demanding that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer change the Senate rules in order to reform the filibuster and pass voting rights legislation.

Um, guys, you should have addressed your letter to the two prima donna diva Vichy Democrat collaborators with the enemies of democracy, Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Just sayin’. They appear ready to step into the shoes of notorious Jim Crow era senators Strom Thurmond and Richard Russell, Jr. Why they would want to be mentioned in the same breath as these segregationists is unfathomable to me.

Jenna McGuire reports, Over 150 Pro-Democracy Groups Demand Schumer Urgently Change Senate Rules to Pass Voting Rights:

“In the year since insurrectionists violently attacked the U.S. Capitol, we have witnessed ongoing and increasingly dangerous efforts to chip away at the foundation of our democracy,” wrote the organizations, which include Stand Up America, Declaration for American Democracy, and Public Citizen.

Over the last year, Republican senators have used the antiquated filibuster rule—which requires a 60-vote super-majority to advance most legislation—to obstruct crucial voting and pro-democracy bills.

“The undersigned organizations write to urge Senate Democrats to pass the slate of democracy and voting rights legislation before Congress, by whatever legislative means are required,” the letter continued

Among the bills that have been blocked by Republicans—legislation the organizations are demanding Senate Democrats pass immediately—are the For the People Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Protecting Our Democracy Act, and a bill establishing Washington, D.C. as a state.

Together the bills would protect voting rights, limit partisan gerrymandering and dark money influence, shield voters against discriminatory voting laws, restore checks and balances, and grant more than 700,000 residents of Washington, D.C. a vote in Congress.

The filibuster rule can be reformed or eradicated altogether with the support of all 50 Senate Democrats—plus a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Kamala Harris—in order to bypass Republicans’ continued obstruction. [The “nuclear option.”]

While the letter applauds Schumer’s recent announcement that Democrats will debate and change the Senate rules on or before January 17 if Republicans continue to block multiple bills—the cosigners urge the New York Democrat to act right away.

“We believe that changing the rules to bypass Republicans’ continued obstruction is the only way to pass meaningful democracy legislation, and we urge you not to wait any longer,” the letter reads.

The letter also notes while Republican-led state legislatures are passing anti-voting rights bills across the country, including 34 voter suppression laws enacted in 19 states in 2021—and hundreds more being proposed—the “Senate has not been able to pass even a single piece of legislation” to safeguard our democracy against them.

“The House of Representatives has already done its job. It is time for the Senate to do right by the American people, and improve the rules of the Senate so they can protect and strengthen our democracy,” the organizations said. “We implore our leaders in Congress to rise to the moment and honor their duty by urgently passing this slate of crucial democracy and voting rights legislation.”

Sirius XM radio host Joe Madison aka “the Black Eagle,” is on a hunger strike over what he has called a “politically and morally wrong” attack on voting rights. He began his hunger strike on November 8, 2021 by abstaining from eating solid food until Congress passes, and President Biden signs, the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

https://twitter.com/MadisonSiriusXM/status/1479490124215951370

Madison is now being joined by faith leaders in his hunger strike for voting rights. 2 Dozen Faith Leaders Begin Hunger Strike For Voting Rights On Jan. 6:

Faith leaders are launching a hunger strike on Jan. 6 — the one-year anniversary of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — in an effort to push lawmakers to pass federal legislation to protect the vote.

Twenty-five faith leaders, largely Christian reverends, from across the country will go without food, urging Congress to pass voting rights legislation by Jan. 17 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Inspired by the ‘big lie,’ the violent insurrection on January 6, 2021 was an attempt to overturn democratic rule in the United States,” said the release from the faith leaders, which include Rev. Cornell Brooks, Harvard professor and former president of the NAACP. They note that “this attempt continues across the nation” with over a dozen states passing laws impacting access to the vote, “specifically targeting communities of color.”

I am one of 21 faith leaders beginning a hunger strike for voting rights.

The right to vote is a civic sacrament that must be protected.

Join us by demanding the US Senate pass voting rights legislation now.

— Rev. Stephen A. Green (@GreenTheRev) January 6, 2022

Exactly one year ago, an armed mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were gathered to conduct the certification of the 2020 presidential election, which President Joe Biden won over his predecessor Donald Trump. Before the riot, Trump incited a crowd at a rally claiming the election had been stolen. Five people died in the ensuing mayhem, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

Meanwhile, Republicans in state legislatures across the country have been pushing hundreds of bills at the state level that would restrict voting. Such efforts have already become law in several states, including Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona.

At the federal level, Republicans have repeatedly blocked voting rights legislation from passing in the Senate. The Freedom to Vote Act, for instance, would require mail-in voting and automatic and same-day voter registration, and would ban partisan gerrymandering and undisclosed “dark money” in elections.

Voting rights advocates are marching in Phoenix on January 15 – the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s actual birthday – and in Washington D.C. on January 17, the federal holiday for King’s birthday. For more information, see deliverforvotingrights.com, and #DeliverForVotingRights on Twitter.

The Senate needs to get this done. Getting it done by the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday would honor all of the generations of Americans who have fought and died for the freedom to vote, and give Americans cause to celebrate this Martin Luther King holiday. And we just might save American democracy in the process.

It’s time to take to the streets and make “good trouble” for voting rights. I would think that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is overdue for another sit-in at her Phoenix office.