Call to Action,  Protect the Vote,  Protecting Democracy

Call to Action: Ask Your Senators to Engage in Discussion of the Freedom to Vote Act

September 22, 2021 /

Equality, freedom, and representation are central to the practice of democracy. To remain a democratic republic, the U.S. must protect the voting freedom of every eligible American, ensuring our ability to participate in free and fair elections. Among American voters, there is wide bipartisan support for federal protection of voter rights. Recognizing this, historically both the Republican and the Democratic parties have overwhelmingly supported the Voting Rights Act and its renewals. 

Unfortunately, since the November 2020 election many state legislatures have passed legislation to restrict access to the ballot. In all cases these have been strictly partisan initiatives. The Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) is intended to provide much-needed reforms in order to protect the right to vote for every eligible American and to promote democratic processes that are representative of and accountable to the American people.

To do:

Contact your senators to ask them to demonstrate support for voting freedom by engaging in good faith conversation across the aisle about the Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA). In less than five minutes, you can submit a letter to both of your senators at once via our website. Follow the prompts to have a personalized letter created for you. Before sending, you will be able to click in the final field to make any desired edits. Go HERE to submit a letter.

Background

American voters care deeply about our voting freedom. As a result, there is wide bipartisan public support for federal protection of voter rights. Recognizing this, historically both the Republican and the Democratic parties have overwhelmingly supported voting freedom through the Voting Rights Act and its renewals. 

Unfortunately, voting freedom has been curtailed through recent efforts to restrict access to the ballot. Between January and July 2021, more than 400 restrictive voting laws were introduced in 49 states, and 30 restrictive voting laws were enacted in 18 states by state legislatures. In each case, this legislation passed on partisan lines. 

These restrictive voting efforts are primarily premised on the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen or rife with fraud, despite top election officials asserting that it was the most secure election of our history. Perhaps most alarming is proposed legislation that would enable political state legislatures to exercise power over certifying state election results. This places control of election outcomes in partisan hands and could potentially have deeply harmful effects, including greater distrust in electoral processes and disenfranchisement of some of the most historically oppressed Americans, particularly Native Americans and Black Americans. Any failure to protect voting freedom marks a troubling erosion of our shared democratic values and the progress our country has made toward greater representative governance.

Federal elections affect us all, and a uniform standard for voting access nationwide can provide assurance for all citizens that elections are conducted fairly in all other states. The Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) is intended to provide much-needed reforms in order to protect the right to vote for every eligible American and to promote democratic processes that are representative of and accountable to the American people. Many of the provisions in this bill have bipartisan and majority support among the general public (automatic voter registration, ending partisan gerrymandering, limiting campaign spending, no-excuse vote-by-mail, restoration of voting rights, early voting, and voter ID). 

FTVA aligns with multiple MWEG principles of ethical government, including:

  • PEG 1c: Elected and appointed officials and government employees alike must eschew conflicts of interest and avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in fidelity to the public trust. Appointees to specialized government roles should be well-qualified to serve in those roles (see Mosiah 29:35-36 and D&C 134:3).
  • PEG 1e: Government institutions and political norms that promote deliberation, reduce polarization, and stimulate compromise among competing perspectives should be safeguarded and, where lacking, adopted (see 3 Nephi 7:1-6 and 4 Nephi 1:15-17).
  • PEG 2: Every human being is endowed with rights that governments are obligated to protect and not violate. These include both universal human rights such as the rights to life and liberty, as well as civil rights such as the rights to equitable political representation and equal protection under the law (see D&C 134:1-2). 
  • PEG 2a: Political structures and electoral systems should be designed to maximize participation of and provide equitable access to all citizens in a society (see Mosiah 29:32).
  • PEG 2b: Special care should be taken to protect the rights of the minority from undue infringement by the majority (see Exodus 23:2 and Proverbs 31:8-9).
  • PEG 3b: Citizens have a duty to participate in representative government by casting an informed vote and seeking to engage with elected officials. As circumstances permit they should consider participating in electoral politics as volunteers, candidates, or elected officials (see D&C 58:27).

Despite the historic public and legislative bipartisanship surrounding voting rights, and despite the many ways in which FTVA clearly aligns with principles of ethical government, there are at this time no known federally elected Republican supporters of this bill, nor have any members of the minority evinced sincere, substantive public engagement around its provisions. But we must push forward with hope and determination. This cloture vote will likely fail in the first round of several, but it is an important step forward. This is an incremental battle to move the needle, just as the long fight for civil rights was a battle of incremental setbacks and wins.