Three bills that will protect voting
Jump to today’s actions:
BACKGROUND
Government’s job is to make voting easy, transparent, fair, and trustworthy. So today we are calling for three bills that would protect voting in different ways.
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would repair and expand the original Voting Right Act:
enable challenges to new voter laws in the courts, particularly if the new law infringes on minority voting rights
require states to pay for polling places on Native American reservations
reinstate Justice Department approval (“preclearance”) of changes, such as redistricting, voter ID requirements, multilingual voting materials, precinct locations, early voting access, and how voter rolls are purged.
For The People Act is a sweeping reform bill. Among other things, it would:
create a national automatic system for registering voters
establish national standards for mail-in and absentee ballots
tighten restrictions on dark money, overriding a new Supreme Court decision allowing donors to hide contributions to issue groups and superPACs.
Judiciary Act of 2021 would expand and rebalance the Supreme Court to 13 justices, one for each federal district. Hopefully, the expanded Court would stop strangling voting rights and start turning off the gushers of dark money in elections.
Stop the slide to autocracy. Our calls matter. Join us.
1. Call the Senate.
Script for Oregon Senators
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
I’m calling to make sure the Senate does not waste any time after the recess. Democrats must work on their own to save our democracy. Please lead the way to abolish the filibuster and pass the For The People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Judiciary Act of 2021. There can be no summer Congressional recess until this work is done.
SEN. WYDEN: Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
I’m calling to make sure the Senate does not waste any time after the recess. Democrats must work on their own to save our democracy. Please lead the way to abolish the filibuster and pass the For The People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Judiciary Act of 2021. There can be no summer Congressional recess until this work is done.
Script for Republican Senators
D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].
Please work to protect our democracy. Stop obstructing and work across the aisle to help us. Support the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
2. Call the House.
Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
I’m calling to make sure the House does not waste any time after the recess. Democrats must work on their own to save our democracy. Please lead the way. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Judiciary Act of 2021. There can be no summer Congressional recess until this work is done.
Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Please work to protect our democracy. Stop obstructing and work Please work to protect our democracy. Stop obstructing and work across the aisle to help us. Support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Script for Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
I’m calling to make sure the House does not waste any time after the recess. Democrats must work on their own to save our democracy. Please lead the way. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Judiciary Act of 2021. There can be no summer Congressional recess until this work is done.
Script for Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
I’m calling to make sure the House does not waste any time after the recess. Democrats must work on their own to save our democracy. Please lead the way. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Judiciary Act of 2021. There can be no summer Congressional recess until this work is done.
Script for Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Salem office: 503-588-9100 | DC office: 202-225-5711
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
II’m calling to make sure the House does not waste any time after the recess. Democrats must work on their own to save our democracy. Please lead the way. Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Judiciary Act of 2021. There can be no summer Congressional recess until this work is done.
3. Take Action
Join us for Deadline for Democracy Indivisible Tuesday with Senator Wyden and Representative Blumenauer’s staff on July 6th at 11:30. https://www.indivisibleor.org/events/deadline-democracy-wyden-blum-07-06-21
Join us to Phone Bank to Virginia on Saturday, July 10th, from 12-2. https://www.indivisibleor.org/events/phone-bank-to-virginia
Please check out Indivisible National’s phone banks for voter outreach and advocacy:
Arizona Phone Banks: July 7
Further Reading
S.1 and S.51:
2021 Round-Up: Efforts to Restrict Voting in the States | Democracy Docket
Equity for the People | Brennan Center for Justice
How to Restore and Strengthen the Voting Rights Act | Brennan Center for Justice
Black voting rights and voter suppression: A timeline (cnn.com)
Expanding the Supreme Court:
New Supreme Court ruling may have dark money consequences
House Judiciary Committee on the need to expand the Supreme Court
Supreme Court makes Citizens United even worse in a landmark dark money case - Vox
The filibuster:
