Beatty Leads Lawmakers to Senate, Calls on Senators to Advance Voter Protection Legislation

Press Release

Today, U.S. Congresswoman and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (OH-03) led Black Caucus Members, including Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, on a march to the Senate to demand swift passage of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.

"Today, we march to the Senate to demand action, because one unjust election has the power to set progress back a lifetime," said Beatty. "We have the American people on our side and regardless of what outcomes we see today, we are not giving up."

Crafted in response to a slew of anti-voter laws passed in GOP-controlled state legislatures, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act would, among other things,

-Establish Election Day as a federal holiday.

-Enact an automatic voter registration through each state's motor vehicle agency and ensure online voter registration.

-Restore the right to vote in federal elections for people who have served time for a felony conviction after being released from prison.

-Strengthen protections for federal election records.

-Require states to use voter-verified paper ballots, reliable audits, and provide grants for new and more secure voting systems.

-Put in place election vendor cybersecurity standards.

-Standardize congressional redistricting and ban partisan gerrymandering.

-Require preclearance for states that have engaged in 15 or more voting violations within the last 25 years and for localities that engaged in 3 or more violations in the last 25 years.

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