Press Releases

One Year After the Capitol Insurrection, It is Time to Protect our Democracy

Jan 06, 2022

End Citizens United // Let America Vote President Tiffany Muller released the following statement on the one year anniversary of the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection:

“One year ago today was one of the darkest and most heartbreaking days for our democracy. The attack on our Capitol marked the first time in American history that a sitting president and his supporters used violence to try to stop the peaceful transition of power, which was then followed by 147 members of the House and Senate voting to overturn the results of a free and fair election.

“The GOP’s anti-democracy crusade did not end on that day. Nor did the same dark money that fueled the insurrection stop. It continued funding the attacks on our freedom to vote.

“The faction that attempted to sabotage the last election is already putting in place the pieces to sabotage the next one, including enacting restrictive voting laws across the country and removing trusted local election officials from their posts. Since January 6th, over 440 bills were introduced in 49 states designed to restrict access to the ballot box, and 34 of those became law in 19 different states. In several states, that includes new penalties and laws to make it easier to sabotage and overturn election results by taking power away from local and nonpartisan officials, criminalizing assistance for voters, and empowering partisan poll watchers who can harass voters and poll workers. As we move into 2022, extremist GOP politicians are already plotting to introduce and enact even more of these anti-democratic laws. At the same time, politically-driven legislators are using extreme partisan gerrymandering to redraw legislative districts and deny voters fair and equal representation.

“The Big Lie and its violent ramifications have gone on for too long. The Senate must reform its rules to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to protect the freedom to vote for every American, end partisan gerrymandering, and stop attempts to sabotage our elections. With millions of voices being silenced and our democracy at risk, we cannot wait any longer to act.”

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