Why is this controversial?

Dear Leading Ladies,

This week, we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. Some of us listened to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech; maybe we did an act of community service in his honor; or perhaps we did some shopping at the ubiquitous online sales dedicated to his name.

What, truly, is the best way to acknowledge the accomplishments of this great civil rights leader? President Biden and Vice President Harris took some heat for leaving the capital and giving speeches in Atlanta, instead of staying in Washington to fight for passage of the voting rights bills in the Senate.

And yet, let’s hope that their speeches drew more attention and galvanized more action than making their case on Capitol Hill would have.

The challenge is clear

VP Harris, who has been all but MIA in the past few months, may have delivered the best speech of her career. She challenged us to fight with all we’ve got against the minority hellbent on keeping people from the voting booths. She demanded that we do what we can so that when asked by our children and grandchildren,

“Let us tell them we acted with the urgency that this moment demands and let us tell them we secured the freedom to vote, that we ensured free and fair elections, and we safeguarded our democracy for them and their children.” She admonished us to not “let a Senate rule stand in the way of our most fundamental freedom. Instead, let us tell them that we stood together as people of conscience and courage.”

She defended their decision to appear in Atlanta, the “cradle of the Civil Rights Movement,” as they work to secure passage of two important pieces of voting legislation in the Senate: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Voters' rights are disappearing every day

To be clear, at least 19 states have passed 34 laws that restrict voting in some way in the last year. And there are more to come. Restrictions include everything from closing voting sites to limiting voting hours convenient for workers; from not allowing food or drink to be given to people waiting in long lines to eliminating early voting and mail-in ballots; from stricter identification rules to felony disenfranchisement. Many of these laws disproportionately affect Black and brown people.

Only the proposed federal laws can safeguard voting rights for all. ”The sweeping legislation would establish federal standards for voting access, including allowing for same-day voter registration, establishing Election Day as a legal public holiday, requiring states to allow a minimum number of days for early voting and allowing people to vote absentee by mail for any reason,” according to thehill.com.

Presently, to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Democrats would need 60 votes — including 10 GOP votes — to get to President Biden's desk, given the filibuster. In his speech following Harris’ last Tuesday, Biden suggested reforming the chamber's rules “whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights."

Okay, so we may all agree that the Voting Rights Act and the John Lewis Act are the right way to go, a necessary step on our road to equality and a true democracy. Surely, their passage would be a suitable tribute to the hard and significant work that Martin Luther King Jr. did to establish civil rights for all.

And, we may agree that the filibuster is an outdated dinosaur utilized to undermine fairness and due process.

Do we have any recourse?

As always, call and write your senators to express your support of the voting bills, particularly if you live in a state where your senators need persuasion. There are also efforts on the state level throughout the country that can use volunteer and financial assistance, such as the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Fair Fight.

By the time you read this, the federal bills may be dead in the water in the Senate, but we can still fight voter suppression in towns and cities throughout the country. Helping citizens register to vote is always an effective method to combat voter suppression. When it is easy to register, people are more likely to do so. Once they are registered, they are more likely to vote. The many postcard campaigns have been very successful in increasing voter rolls. Those efforts will ramp up as the 2022 midterm elections come closer.

Perhaps next MLK Day we will be able to honor the great Civil Rights leader with better news about our fragile democracy. As VP Harris recommended, let’s be able to say we tried. We’ll vote for that.

In hope we trust,

Therese
Judy
Mary
Beth
Leading Ladies Executive Team
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org