End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund President Tiffany Muller released the following statement following the Republican filibuster of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act:
“After blocking the Freedom to Vote Act, a commonsense, compromise bill brought forward by Senators Manchin, Klobuchar, Merkley, Warnock, and others, Republicans in the Senate today blocked the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
“This is now the fourth time that Senate Republicans have abused the filibuster to block even debating voting rights legislation this year. They have had more than eight years since the Shelby decision gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and several months since states started passing egregious anti-voter laws to support legislation that would protect Americans’ freedom to vote. It is clear that they are not good faith actors and will block any and all legislation to empower voters and ensure every American has access to the ballot box.
“The time for attempts at bipartisan voting legislation is now over. The Senate must move forward and do whatever it takes to pass voting rights legislation. Republican-led legislatures are moving quickly, along partisan lines, to pass gerrymandered maps that deny voters fair and equal representation and to pass laws that restrict the freedom to vote and make it easier to sabotage our elections. We cannot afford to wait any longer to protect our democracy.
“Since 1969, the Senate has passed legislation with a simple majority vote over 160 times, including to pass trade deals, to give corporations a tax handout, and to confirm judges. If Republicans can pass a corporate tax giveaway with a simple majority vote, then certainly we should be able to pass voting rights legislation with a simple majority.”
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