Today’s Action: Tell the House to pass H.R.1 and restore the Voter Rights Act

H.R.1, the new House’s first piece of legislation, is a sweeping piece of government accountability and democracy reform. On Monday, we covered how H.R.1 would require Trump to release his tax returns. Today, we’re focusing on another aspect: H.R.1 bolsters voter empowerment and returns the Voter Rights Act to its rightful place.

We’ve seen a crushing wave of GOP voter restriction in recent years, mainly targeting people of color, the poor, and the elderly and young people. The real springboard of these atrocities was in 2013, when the right-wing Supreme Court shut down key elements of the historic Voter Rights Act, originally signed into law in 1965. Without these protections, the GOP has quickly reverted back to repressive practices that pre-date the Civil Rights Era.

H.R.1 not only restores the Voter Rights Act, but goes on to create pro-voter measures like same-day and automatic voter registration, preventing gerrymandering with independent redistricting commissions, upgraded election machinery, and much more.

In other words, it’s awesome for democracy.

And if they’ve already co-sponsored, thank them!

In the aftermath of the Voter Rights Act disappearance, the GOP moved fast to target those who would vote against them:

• Harsh voter I.D. laws that disproportionately affect voters of color and the poor
• Consolidating polling stations, creating longer lines and inconvenient locations in minority areas
• Heavily gerrymandered districts (some of which are being caught by our courts — but not all)
• Purging voter rosters, forcing disenfranchised voters to re-register (and more likely, not vote at all)
• ‘Missing’ ballots in majority-Black districts (hi, Georgia midterms)

These vile tactics will be addressed and corrected by H.R.1. For yourself, for your fellow voters, for those who cannot currently vote: call your Representative.

Be sure to check whether they’ve already co-sponsored, so that you can thank them while you encourage them to aggressively move it forward.