Democracy + Voting Rights

Throughout our nation’s history, we have never delivered on the promises of democracy. The legacies of slavery and Jim Crow have carried on through voter disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and voter suppression making the ballot box inaccessible, especially for poor, Black and brown people across the country. 

Not only must we end racist voter ID and suppression laws, restore the full power of the Voting Rights Act, and end gerrymandering, but we must go further and provide every person in our country with the right to vote - from previously incarcerated people to immigrants, everyone deserves a voice in our democracy. 

Congress should be making it easier to vote, not harder, that means automatic voter registration, nationwide early and mail voting, federal holidays for election days, and same day voter registration. 

Additionally, as long as corporations can funnel billions into elections, our democracy will continue to belong to the highest bidder. Comprehensive campaign finance reform that ends Citizens United and puts campaigns back into the hands of the people is a necessary step to rebuilding our democracy. 

Our government’s rules have also failed to fulfill the promise of democracy and it is time we end outdated and arbitrary laws. We must end the filibuster, a tool championed by segregationist Senators to oppose civil rights legislation, that continues to stand in the way of progress today. We must expand the Supreme Court and federal courts so that right-wing extremists cannot strip away our fundamental rights and end lifetime appointments to the highest court in the land. Our democracy has long been broken, but we have the tools to rebuild a more reflective democracy once and for all.