Media Contact
Black Girls Vote:
Crystal Amuzie, camuzie@blackgirlsvote.com
BGV STATEMENT ON VOTING RIGHTS ACT FAILING TO PASS SENATE
BALTIMORE, MD (January 24, 2022) — Last week, the Senate voted on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. In a 49-51 split, the Senate failed to pass the much needed regulations to protect our right to vote. Congress, and particularly Mitch McConnel, has failed the American people. The Biden administration has failed the American people. This failure particularly affects Black women and our communities, as we have been organizing, sacrificing, and demanding that our voices are heard and our rights defended for years.
Across the country and for years, we have watched as elected officials in red states have made it more and more difficult for Black voters to get to the polls. They have created and enforced laws requiring specific voter identification, made it a criminal offense for election officials to send out guidelines on new voter registration forms, reduced the number of polling locations in Black and Latino communities, and taken our democracy backward.
Just two weeks ago in Georgia – one of the 19 states to pass predatory legislation and also the backdrop of where Black women showed up and showed out to protect this nation – President Biden said he ‘would not flinch’ on domestic attacks such as those against voting rights. His rhetoric was nice, but actions would be better.
Black Girls Vote is calling for an executive order that will guarantee fair and equitable voting access, prohibit gerrymandering during redistricting, and restrict interference of corporate funding in our elections. We want to live in an America that values us, our voices, and our rights. Black women saw this coming. Lack of comprehensive action in the Senate was an avoidable consequence. While many commend our efforts to fight voter suppression by doing things like waiting in line to vote, the fact remains that it should not be necessary for us to do these things.
“The very same administration that challenged the authenticity of a person’s ‘Blackness’ who did not support them has failed to aid in Black people’s continued fight for equity at the ballot box. We cannot wait anymore.”