The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, in a nutshell, is a Bill that would prevent discriminatory election practices and codify that secretaries of state and state legislatures obtain approval from the Justice Department or federal court to make changes to their state’s voting laws.
In 2013, the conservative majority SCOTUS led by Chief Justice Roberts gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act and voided the pre-clearance requirement citing that the legislation was outdated. His honor put the onus on Capitol Hill lawmakers to pass an updated law. But republicans have been blocking every attempt ever since.
The 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the filibuster and end cloture has failed several times. It doesn’t look like the JLVRA Act will pass before the 2022 midterm primaries. The democrats hold a slim majority in Congress with President of the Senate, VP Harris, breaking ties for her party chamber.
Historically, when the Democrat Party has the White House and majority in Congress during the midterms, the majority flips in favor of the minority party. A well-funded ground game will be crucial if democrats have any chance at making history maintaining majority.
Vowing to decline corporate PACs is a setup for failure. The alternative of relinquishing power, handing it over to the republicans would reverse all progress made and threaten democracy for at least a decade.
The country cannot afford to return to the stalemate we suffered when Senator McConnell was Majority Leader. And we definitely cannot afford to give the Federalist Society and GOP more opportunity to install conservative justices on the Court.
With the passage of the JLVRA looking grim because of the filibuster, democrats must be prepared to fight the GOP’s gerrymandering, redistricting maps and voting intimidation laws. That’s going to cost a lot of money. Democrat candidates must set aside pearl-clutching and except every single donation, PACs or otherwise, because purity politics is a battle we cannot afford to lose.
TAKE. THE. MONEY.
