President Biden Must Act on Voting Rights
by Virgina Kase, LWVUS CEO
On November 17th a crowd of over 500 people stood up and spoke out, urging the White House to take action around voting rights. This was our fifth No More Excuses rally, and the passion was palpable in the crowd. Nearly 200 of the people involved risked arrest while demanding that President Biden keep to his promises to protect voting rights.
Now is the time to pass the vital voting rights reforms within both the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) and the Freedom to Vote Act. These bills have sweeping bipartisan support across the nation but have repeatedly met partisan gridlock in Congress. The White House has the ability to exert its influence and lean on its relationships to see these bills pass. President Biden must use the weight of his office and his administration to ensure voting rights stay front and center as a first priority.
American democracy direly needs the Freedom to Vote Act and the VRAA to protect and expand the voting rights of millions of Americans. The VRAA is needed fully restore the Voting Rights Act and ensure that discriminatory voting policies, which disproportionately target communities of color, are stopped. Meanwhile, the Freedom to Vote Act will ensure that the right to vote is protected regardless of one’s race, background, or zip code. Fulfilling the promise of our Democracy depends on the passage of these voting rights packages.
Federal voting rights reforms are essential to the health of our democracy. The American people want and deserve reforms that will:
- Protect and enforce voting rights;
- Address the historical barriers to voting;
- Oversee voting rights violations;
- Hold states and bad actors accountable; and
- Create a democracy that is representative of all Americans.
The Biden-Harris Administration must stand with and step up for millions of Americans in defense of our freedom to vote. Voting access is not about partisan politics; it’s about justice and equality. President Biden must use his more than four decades of political experience to do what it takes to bring voting protections to the most vulnerable voters in this country.
