As we step into primary season in a pivotal year for our nation, where does our democracy stand? LWV CEO Celina Stewart, Esq., shares her thoughts.

"We are witnessing an open assault on our democracy, from dangerous executive overreach to our legislators' failure to take action, to our judiciary acting as a loyalist court. All three branches of government are failing the people, and our rights are under fire in Minnesota and beyond. 

Immigration enforcement officers are being empowered to bypass the rule of law, using intimidation and fatal violence to suppress us. When we can't live our lives or raise our voices without risk of being incarcerated, deported or killed, we are no longer in a functioning democracy. 

These blows hit communities of colors first and hardest, and the trauma of violence and suppression will soon reach us all. This is a classic authoritarianism tactic. By silencing certain communities, bad actors are laying the blueprint for silencing us all, and in that atmosphere, the US cannot be the healthy representative nation that we deserve. 

We cannot afford to sit aside or be divided. Now is the time to join together and to fight back. Support your neighbors. Get involved with local organizations and donate to causes you care about. Join the work to fight back at lwv.org/uniteandrise and, most importantly, keep going. 

This is our democracy. Let's defend it."