On Wednesday, Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United (ECU) // Let America Vote (LAV) Action Fund, and Nathalie Rayes, president and CEO of Latino Victory Project, hosted a bilingual discussion with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Representative Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) to discuss the urgent need to pass the For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1)––a critical package of anti-corruption, voting, and ethics reforms––to fight back against dark money-fueled efforts by Republicans across the country to restrict Americans’ freedom to vote.
“The threat to voting rights is very real, especially for Black and Brown communities,” said Senator Padilla. “Right now, there are over 360 bills introduced in state legislatures across the country to suppress the right to vote. We must make good on the promise to make voting easier and more accessible for all eligible citizens. That’s why I’m keeping up the urgent fight in Congress to pass the For the People Act.”
“Diverse, working class communities face tremendous barriers to voting and we should be empowering all voters to participate in our democracy, not making it harder. Still, Republican state legislatures are advancing an array of voter suppression laws to keep people from voting. They know that when more people vote, it hurts their chances at holding power. The For the People Act strengthens campaign finance reform and ends discriminatory practices like voter intimidation and misinformation used to stifle Latino, Black and other marginalized communities’ engagement in our election system. We must put power back in the hands of the American people and make sure all communities can freely exercise their voting rights,” said Congressman García.
“In all of the states across the country facing dark-money fueled efforts to attack voting rights, Black and Latino voters are being targeted in a number of ways, including, restrictions on access to early voting, making it harder to vote by mail, and taking power away from local election officials and instead giving it to the partisan State Legislatures,” said ECU // LAV Action Fund President Tiffany Muller. “These dark money groups are spending Big Money by a few mega-donors to drown out Americans’ voices. We must pass the For the People Act to fight back against these egregious efforts and defend our democracy.”
“Latinos are the second-largest voting bloc in the country, and this political strength risks being weakened by billionaires working nonstop to obstruct voting access,” said Nathalie Rayes, Latino Victory Project President & CEO. “We’re proud to have leaders in Congress willing to stand up to corrupt interests by introducing the For the People Act, to ensure all Americans have equal access to the ballot box. We’re honored to have partnered with Senator Padilla and Congressman Garcia, End Citizens United, and El Tiempo Latino in this conversation aimed at informing the Latino community about efforts to protect their right to vote and our democracy.”
Click here to watch the discussion in Spanish.
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