Faith Leaders Statement on Voting Rights

During the 2022 Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance events in San Francisco, faith leaders gathered together to discuss the urgency of protecting the voting rights of every American citizen in the face of renewed and concerted efforts to suppress the votes of Black and Brown communities in many parts of the nation. In the face of undaughted attacks through legislative efforts designed to make it more difficult to vote in these communities, a statement was drafted to call on the United States Congress to pass, and for the President to sign, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

We call on Congress to protect the voting rights of every American citizen by passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

There is no more important safeguard to our democracy than the protection of every American citizen’s right to vote, and the urgency of this protection has taken on new dimensions. And, it calls on each person to become a beacon of justice and to act now by contacting your congressional representatives and

The assault on voting rights has intensified since the United States Supreme Court’s 2013 landmark decision in Shelby County v Holder rendered unconstitutional the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s preclearance provisions, which were designed to guard against the continuation of historic discrimination in voting.

Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to address racial discrimination in voting and the deep and embedded effects of Jim Crow laws on the millions of African Americans in this country. We are now faced with a more concerted effort to roll back the balance of these voting rights through the enactment of new laws in many of our states that will, once again, have a suppressive and transformative effect on millions of African Americans and people of color.

The Freedom to Vote Act will, among other things, set a national baseline for voting access and enable direct action against overt voter suppression. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will restore protections stripped from the 1965 Voting Rights Act by installing new preclearance requirements for states looking to change their voting rights laws. Taken together, we believe these acts will serve as a bulwark against voter suppression and as a needed protection for every American citizen’s right to cast her/his/their ballot.

As faith leaders of good will came together in March of 1965 to help drive America to a better place and call for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, we call on Congress and the President to protect the voting rights of every American citizen by passing and signing into law the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

We believe there is no more important safeguard in our democracy than the protection of every American citizen’s right to vote, and the urgency of this protection has taken on new dimensions. Each of us can become a beacon of justice by acting now and contacting our congressional representative and senators directly to empower them to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Despite an environment that may seem daunting, we can all take courage that the long difficult work of uprooting embedded wrongs bends our nation toward justice.

Here are some resources to help you stay involved and empowered:

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