This week, dozens of local and national advocacy organizations will lead voting rights actions across the U.S. as part of a national campaign urging President Biden and the Senate to pass voting rights legislation before the year’s end. Actions began on Monday, December 6, with a hunger strike by 20 students affiliated with Un-PAC Arizona and will culminate on Thursday, December 9 with coordinated direct actions, where some protesters will risk arrest, coinciding with President Biden’s Global Democracy Summit. 

Actions are planned in: Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, which the coalition supports becoming the 51st state. A full list of actions is available upon request.

This week’s actions mark an unprecedented attack on voting rights in the U.S. While lawmakers passed more than 30 voter suppression bills in statehouses across the country, President Biden and the U.S. Senate have stalled on passing critical voting rights legislation. President Biden’s refusal to use his bully pulpit to pressure the Senate into action — even as he hosts a global democracy summit — represents massive #DemocracyHypocrisy. 

WHO: Black Voters Matter; Center for Popular Democracy Action; Common Cause; Coalition for the People’s Agenda; Declaration for American Democracy; Fair Elections for New York; Future Coalition; Indivisible Project;  League of Women Voters; March On; Northern California Action for Democracy: A Coalition of Grassroots Indivisible Chapters; People For the American Way; Sierra Club; Songs for Good; and The Workers Circle

WHEN & WHERE:

Time and location information for select events are provided below. For a full list of upcoming actions, please e-mail blackvotersmatter@fenton.com

Thursday, December 9

California

  • 10:00 AM PT: March from Sen. Alex Padilla’s Office to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Office (beginning at 333 Bush Street, San Francisco; ending at One Post Street, San Francisco)

Georgia

  • 10:00 AM ET: Terminus Building (3280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta)

New York

  • 10:15 AM ET: “Funeral for U.S Democracy” (Ralph Bunche Park, NW corner of First Ave. and East 42 Street)

Virginia

  • 10:00 AM ET: March to Sen. Mark Warner’s Office (919 East Main Street #630, Richmond)

RSVP: Members of the media are encouraged to RSVP by e-mailing blackvotersmatter@fenton.com

This coalition calls on President Biden and the Senate to put #RightsBeforeRecess and pass critical voting rights legislation into law THIS year. Failure to pass this critical voting rights legislation could be the nail in the coffin for American democracy. 

Statements from participating organizations are provided below.

Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, said: “Voters stepped up in unprecedented numbers in 2020 to elect leaders that would protect our rights. Almost a year later, we’re still waiting for action on voting rights, but Pres. Biden wants to talk about global democracy? You can’t sell something globally that you can’t even protect at home.” 

Ann Toback, Chief Executive Officer of The Workers Circle, said: “President Biden must take assertive action to counter anti-democratic lawmakers who are passing state voter suppression laws and gerrymandering maps to lock-in partisan, minority rule and subvert our democracy here at home if the US is to  lead on global democracy.  We call on the President to use the full power of his office to insist the Senate pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act before the end of 2021. Our democracy can’t wait!”

Jana Morgan, Director of the Declaration for American Democracy Coalition, said: “No matter where we live or what our background is, we all deserve a fair say in the big issues that affect our lives, like affordable health care, good jobs, and quality education. But Senate Republicans continue to block Americans’ freedom to vote by obstructing transformative legislation and enabling anti-voter laws and unfairly drawn congressional maps that silence Black and Brown voters. With the one-year mark of the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol quickly approaching, Congress is running out of time to make progress toward safeguarding against attempts to sabotage or overturn elections. President Biden must step up and use the full power of the White House to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as soon as possible, even if that means delaying winter recess.” 

Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible Project, said: “Last year, President Biden called Republican attacks on voting rights ‘the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.’ He’s right — and now, we need him to act like it. The same people who knocked on doors, phonebanked, textbanked and wrote postcards to get Biden to the White House are asking him to join this fight for our democracy.”

Vanessa Wruble, Executive Director of March On, said: “It’s past time for President Biden and the U.S. Senate to safeguard our democracy and pass these critical voting rights bills—recess or not. While President Biden hosts a summit on protecting democracy worldwide, our own democratic rights are in peril right here in this country.”

Shana Gallagher, Executive Director of Un-PAC, said: “Young Americans face an untenable future. The compounding crises of climate change and student debt alone are crippling our generation. Solutions to these grave challenges are possible, but not without a functional and accountable democracy. Without getting dark money out of politics and protecting our freedom to vote, our democracy will crumble. Passing the Freedom To Vote Act is our last, best chance, and our futures hang in the balance of the Senate’s decision to restore their rules and pass this existential bill this year.”