***IMMEDIATE ACTION***”WE NEED THE JOHN R. LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ADVANCEMENT ACT NOW MORE THAN EVER [8-3-25]
August 6 is the Voting Rights Act (VRA)’s 60th anniversary. Crafted during a time of state-sponsored racist violence, poll taxes, and literacy tests, it guaranteed racial minorities equal access to the ballot box—the cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
Despite its popularity, the Roberts Court, beginning in 2013, has whittled away its protections—stripping provisions that helped protect voters in jurisdictions with known histories of discrimination and making it harder to challenge racially discriminatory voting laws.
The result: a torrent of voter suppression schemes, systematically disenfranchising tens of thousands of American voters. Since 2013, 31 states passed 115 restrictive voting laws, including 44+ laws in states previously known to discriminate
Since Trump’s election, he’s pushed baseless voter fraud claims; tried to tighten voting restrictions; gutted the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division; and is encouraging GOP-controlled states to engage in mid-decade gerrymandering to maintain the House majority.
On July 29, just 8 days before the VRA’s anniversary, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which restores and expands the VRA’s protections, was officially reintroduced in both chambers, as Senate Democrats announced during a press conference—legislation supported by 70% of voters, including 60% of Independents and 50% of Republicans. Co-sponsored by all Congressional Democrats, it would require federal approval for states and localities with histories of discrimination to change their voting laws, enact same-day voter registration, prevent purges of voters missing elections, and allow legal challenges by disenfranchised voters.
Let’s thank our MoCs for their strong support for voting rights and our Senators for their press conference. But they cannot stop here. Instead, they must use this anniversary to get as much publicity as possible, while simultaneously exposing Trump and his MAGA allies for the authoritarians they are—working to destroy rather than strengthen our democracy.
ACTION One: Call the Senate and the House.
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
SEN. WYDEN: Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
REP. BONAMICI: Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | D.C. office: 202-225-0855
REP. BENTZ: Medford office: 541-776-4646 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
REP. DEXTER: Portland office: 503-231-2300 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
REP. HOYLE: Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | D.C. office: 202-225-6416
REP. BYNUM: D.C. office: 202-225-5711
REP. SALINAS: Salem office: 503-385-0906 | D.C. office: 202-225-5643
