LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright, co-founders of Black Voters Matter, issued this statement after several members of the Texas state legislature successfully blocked Senate Bill 7, which would have severely restricted voting rights access statewide.
“After weeks of campaigning, outreach, and grassroots-level actions to preserve voting rights in Texas, activists and community members are now breathing a sigh of relief. Thanks to their advocacy, this move from Texas Democrats to block Senate Bill 7 will help to ensure that all Texans have free and fair access to the voting booth — particularly in Black communities where residents are disproportionately impacted by voter suppression. This is not only a hard-earned win for the activists and freedom fighters working to protect ballot access; it’s also a remarkable show of power from our communities, which showed up and showed out to kill this dangerous bill.
“But the fight to protect voting rights is far from over. Even after advocates, community members, and legislators went to extraordinary lengths to block S.B. 7, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already asked lawmakers to reintroduce the bill and threatened to call a special legislative session to do so. And while we’re ready to continue to fight back against voter restrictions — whether in Texas or in our other twelve partner states — we shouldn’t have to. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and House Democrats have backed two transformative proposals to enshrine voting rights protections into federal law. Now, the U.S. Senate must follow suit. We need Senate leadership to end the filibuster and move H.R.1 and H.R. 4 forward to put an end to aggressive state bills that restrict Black voting power. Until they do, it will not be business as usual.
“Black Voters Matter Fund would like to acknowledge the work of the whole Texas Right to Vote coalition, including Texas Organizing Project, MOVE Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, NAACP, Communications Workers of America and many more.”
