End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund President Tiffany Muller released the following statement commemorating the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
“Fifty-six years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, a critical moment in our nation’s history to eliminate racial discrimination in the voting process. The law was signed after almost a century of Jim Crow voting laws that prevented Black and brown Americans from being able to vote. The VRA has been a tremendous force for good in the United States, protecting access to the ballot box and ensuring that our democracy is more inclusive and representative of the American people.
“Unfortunately, voting rights are once again being threatened, with extremist, right-wing Supreme Court justices gutting the VRA and self-serving Republican politicians and their dark money allies using the Big Lie to push measures that limit the freedom to vote, 30 of which have already been enacted in 18 states this year alone.
“These attacks on the right to vote will not stop unless Congress takes action. Passing the For the People Act is the next crucial step in combating these restrictive voter laws and protecting every American’s ability to cast a ballot. We must also pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore the full power of the 1965 VRA so it again prevents states and communities from erecting barriers to voting.
“On the anniversary of one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the fight for voting rights, we call on Congress to once again champion the fundamental freedom to vote by quickly passing both of these critical bills.”
Yesterday, End Citizens United // Let America Vote released a new ad calling on President Joe Biden to urge the Senate to reform the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation. The ad invokes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 pointed to the Senate filibuster as one of the most effective tools for blocking civil and voting rights legislation, just as it is being used to do again today.
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