For democracy to work for all of us, it must be responsive to voters. Prominent politicians in 2020 turned their back on voters when they spread lies in an effort to undermine public confidence in the 2020 elections. Following the election, lawmakers in several states across the country are now introducing a record number of bills in state legislatures that would silence citizens by erecting more deliberate barriers to voting. These proposals attack people’s fundamental right to vote and come in many forms.
These bills would make it harder to register to vote, restrict people’s ability to request, receive and return mail-in ballots, delete voters from state voting rolls, cut down on early voting hours and more. With these bills, state politicians are purposefully targeting the voting methods favored by communities of color, younger voters, voters with disabilities and members of other marginalized groups in brazen attempts to cherry-pick their voters.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is actively working with state and local stakeholders to limit the impact of anti-voter bills through legal action, legislative advocacy and public education. CLC is working in many states across the nation fighting to support every eligible citizen’s right to participate in our democracy. State laws should make voting more, not less, accessible so that people can have their voices heard on the issues that matter most to them. We must ensure that Americans can cast ballots so we are able to elect leaders who govern in our interests and make the promise of our democracy real for us all.