A terrifying turning point in the history of U.S. democracy

Loyalists of Donald Trump are using the Big Lie of a stolen election to advance more than 250 bills at the state level to restrict access to voting.

Dear MoveOn member,

Loyalists of Donald Trump are using the Big Lie of a stolen election to advance more than 250 bills at the state level to restrict access to voting.¹ And right-wing groups are planning to spend $10 million to pass the bills.²

Voting rights expert Michael McDonald calls the tsunami of GOP bills "the greatest roll back of voting rights in this country since the Jim Crow era."³ And The New York Times calls the Republican effort "extraordinary."⁴

The state bills would do everything from banning early voting on Sundays in Georgia, a direct attack on the "Souls to the Polls" get-out-the-vote efforts at Black churches, to allowing the GOP-controlled state legislature in Arizona to ignore the will of voters and themselves select the winners of elections.^5,6

With the ultraconservative U.S. Supreme Court expected to allow state voting restrictions to stand, the only way to stop the right-wing's assault on voting rights, while also fixing other major ways our democracy is broken, such as stopping partisan gerrymandering and getting Big Money out of politics, is through federal legislation.⁷

That's why last week the House passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a sweeping voting rights and democracy reform bill that makes Election Day a holiday, creates new national automatic voter registration, requires at least 15 consecutive days of early voting, prohibits states from restricting vote-by-mail, ends partisan gerrymandering, establishes public financing of campaigns, and more.⁸

But passing the bill in the Senate will mean keeping up our huge grassroots effort to win the votes of swing Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The good news is that our pressure is working. Over the weekend, Senator Manchin signaled he is open to amending the filibuster—a critical breakthrough essential to passing this legislation.⁹

MoveOn is the largest grassroots progressive group in the nation, with more than 10 million members nationwide and a strong presence in every single state. When our members speak, Democratic leaders listen. But we need to get to work—and right now.

We need to be in this work for the long haul. Will you chip in $8 a month to MoveOn to stop the GOP assault on voting rights, protect our democracy, pass the For the People Act, and keep demanding progressive reforms in Congress?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

In characterizing the tsunami of right-wing state bills to roll back voting rights and sweeping democracy reforms in the For the People Act, Ron Brownstein wrote this week in The Atlantic: "Future Americans could view the resolution of this struggle as a turning point in the history of U.S. democracy. The outcome could not only shape the balance of power between the parties, but determine whether that democracy grows more inclusive or exclusionary."¹⁰

But it will take ending the filibuster and all 50 Democrats voting for the bill to pass it. That's why it was so critical that Sen. Manchin said he is open to reforming the filibuster—a step toward what we truly need, which is getting rid of it.¹¹

Andra, there is real reason for hope! But we need to build on this momentum with a massive organizing effort to convince Sen. Manchin and other conservative Senate Democrats that the future of our democracy is at stake, and we can't let the Jim Crow filibuster continue to undermine our democracy.

We've been here before—and won. In 2013, Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said they would never get rid of the filibuster for judicial nominations and presidential appointments. Then Mitch McConnell announced he was going to block several of President Obama's key nominations and appeals court appointments, and Reid and other Democrats changed their minds and voted to claw back the filibuster—at that time invoking what was called "the nuclear option."¹²

We can change the minds of conservative Democratic senators. But it's going to take every one of us getting involved—starting right now.

Will you join us, Andra, chip in $8 a month, help pass the For the People Act, and demand real change from Congress?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

We're in this together to the end.

Thanks for all you do.

–Emma, Heather, Ankur, Gabi, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "State Voting Bills Tracker 2021," Brennan Center for Justice, February 24, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150257?t=6&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

2. "Conservative group to invest $10M on effort to tighten election security laws in 8 swing states," Fox News, March 8, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150285?t=8&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

3. "Voting Rights or the Filibuster?" The New York Times, March 5, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150264?t=10&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

4. "In Statehouses, Stolen-Election Myth Fuels a G.O.P. Drive to Rewrite Rules," The New York Times, March 2, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150259?t=12&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

5. "Georgia House passes GOP bill rolling back voting access," Associated Press, March 1, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150253?t=14&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

6. "Proposed law would allow Arizona Legislature to overturn presidential election results," Arizona Daily Star, February 13, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150254?t=16&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

7. "Targeting State Restrictions, House Passes Landmark Voting Rights Expansion," The New York Times, March 3, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150260?t=18&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

8. "House Democrats' massive voting rights bill, explained," Vox, March 3, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150255?t=20&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

9. "Why it matters that a key Dem is open to reforming filibuster rules," MSNBC, March 8, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150288?t=22&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

10. "Democrats' Only Chance to Stop the GOP Assault on Voting Rights," The Atlantic, March 3, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150261?t=24&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

11. "Why it matters that a key Dem is open to reforming filibuster rules," MSNBC, March 8, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150288?t=26&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

12. "Reid, Democrats trigger 'nuclear' option; eliminate most filibusters on nominees," The Washington Post, November 21, 2013
https://act.moveon.org/go/150263?t=28&akid=291958%2E53570607%2EOYOrud

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