Voting Rights

"We're all cold and yet we're here because we believe in the power and promise of democracy," Catherine Turcer, executive director of good government nonprofit Common Cause Ohio, told the crowd.

“The insurrection was a violent affront to free and fair elections and the orderly transition of power,” said Karen Hobart Flynn, president of the liberal group Common Cause. “January 6th interrupted two centuries of the peaceful transfer of power. It was staged by a domestic enemy fueled by the lies fed by the former president, some Republican politicians, and their allies who tried to subvert a bedrock democratic principle: that voters decide elections,” she said.

“As state legislators come back into session, many of the 400-plus voter suppression bills that have been introduced last year get carried over to this year,” said Aaron Scherb, legislative affairs director at Common Cause, a left-leaning government watchdog group. “There’s an urgent need to protect the voices of Americans—especially Black and brown Americans, whose voices many of these laws are targeting.”

January 6th interrupted two centuries of the peaceful transfer of power. It was staged by a domestic enemy fueled by the lies fed by the former President, some Republican politicians, and their allies who tried to subvert a bedrock democratic principle: that voters decide elections.

Our country has survived the Civil War, two world wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, and many other hardships along the way. Although many have been left behind or left out during those struggles, we must expand our efforts for an inclusive democracy so that it lives up to its promise. We survived the insurrection and a coup attempt last year. Can our democracy withstand another attempt in the next presidential election? We cannot afford to find out. The Senate must immediately pass pending legislation that has already passed the House before it’s too late and work closely on reforms to the Electoral Count Act. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated the Senate will again take up voting rights when it reconvenes. No Senate rule, including the filibuster, should stand in the way.

Stephen Spaulding, senior counsel for public policy and government affairs at Common Cause, echoed Effingham’s take. “Conversations are really underway to find a way forward that restores the Senate as a place where senators come together, debate issues of the day and actually pass them, not bury them,” said Spaulding. “I think there is a desire — not just among Senate Democrats, among Republicans as well. The Senate is not working as well as it has in the past.” Spaulding identified a number of previous efforts around altering the filibuster while preserving a significant portion of the rule, ideas that may be considered again.