Re: Check out what VP Harris has to say: (please read)

Friend, voter suppression has been woven into American history for a long time. However, thanks to the work of generations of activists, for two centuries the trend was to expand access to the ballot box for an ever increasing percentage of Americans, breaking down barriers that had been set up based on property ownership, race, gender, age and more. Unfortunately, over the last two decades, Republicans have begun moving that trend in the opposite direction by  finding more and more ways to block access to the ballot box. Since the 2020 elections, Republicans at the state level have doubled-down on these efforts, passing over 30 laws to make it harder to vote and to subvert the electoral process. On Thursday, the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, Vice President Harris called on all Americans to take action to strengthen our voting rights. There are currently two bills awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate; the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Both of these bills would federally protect our rights to cast a ballot and gut many of these state voter suppression laws. Senate Leader Chuck Schumer wants a vote to pass these bills by Martin Luther King, Jr Day. Between now and then, we need to hammer home the message to our senators that the only way to strengthen our democracy is to protect everyone's access to voting. [Daily Kos has generated millions of actions–letters, phone calls, petition signatures, rally RSVPs, donations and more–to defend voting rights over the years, and in 2021, as Republican attacks on the freedom to vote escalated, our campaign to defend democracy escalated right along with it. We are working both the inside game and the outside game as we generate tens of thousands of actions a day to pass these bills on January 17. That's why I am asking you to support our campaign to pass these two landmark bills in the coming days by giving $5 now.]( [DONATE]( Thanks for all you do, Amanda McKay, Daily Kos --------------------------------------------------------------- Friend, on the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, a day when Trump extremists stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election results, Vice President Kamala Harris [called]( on Congress to fortify our voting rights laws: What they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideals that generations of Americans have marched, picketed, and shed blood to establish and defend ... What was at stake then, and now, is the right to have our future decided the way the Constitution prescribes it: by we, the people—all the people. January 6th reflects the dual nature of democracy—its fragility and its strength. You see, the strength of democracy is the rule of law. The strength of democracy is the principle that everyone should be treated equally, that elections should be free and fair, that corruption should be given no quarter. The strength of democracy is that it empowers the people. And the fragility of democracy is this: that if we are not vigilant, if we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand; it will falter and fail. The American spirit is being tested. The answer to whether we will meet that test resides where it always has resided in our country—with you, the people. Here, in this very building, a decision will be made about whether we uphold the right to vote and ensure free and fair elections. Let’s be clear: We must pass the voting rights bills that are now before the Senate, and the American people must also do something more. We cannot sit on the sidelines. We must unite in defense of our democracy in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our prosperity and posterity. It's never too late to safeguard our elections from those that want to undermine our electoral systems and suppress votes. In the coming days and weeks Daily Kos will ask you to take action to make your voice heard in the halls of Congress—to ask your Senators to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act to ensure free and fair elections for generations to come. [Friend, can you support our efforts to pass these landmark bills by giving $5 today?]( [DONATE]( Thanks for all you do, Amanda McKay, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. (Please note that we may be slow to process checks during the coronavirus outbreak.) Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.