Michelle Obama.Photo: Marla Aufmuth/Getty
With the 2022 midterm elections on the horizon,Michelle Obamahasissued a call to actionthrough her organizationWhen We All Voteto protect voting rights and set an ambitious goal to register a million new voters across the country.
“From Georgia and Florida to Iowa and Texas, states passed laws designed to make it harder for Americans to vote. And in other state legislatures across the nation, lawmakers have attempted to do the same,” the former first lady wrote in a letter that was published as an ad on Sunday inTheNew York Times.
With the help of the Senate’s filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to proceed on legislation, Republicans have blocked voting rights proposals three times since PresidentJoe Bidentook office a year ago.
Conservatives argue the reforms amount to federal intrusion, though advocates say such reforms are needed to reverse mounting restrictions on mail ballots, polling place access and more parts of the voting process.
In October, Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnellcalled the mostrecent version of a bill “rotten"and dismissed it as part of Democrats' “radical agenda.”
A push for the move is expected early this year — and Obama has stated another well-timed goal related to that fight in her letter: to “organize at least 100,000 Americans to contact their Senators, calling on them to do everything they can to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama.Paras Griffin/Getty
She quoted Rep. Lewis, a former Georgia lawmaker and civil rights icon whodied in July 2020and whose name is on the voting rights bill currently held up in Congress.
“As John Lewis said, ‘Democracy is not a state. It is an act.’ And protecting it requires all of us,” Obama wrote. “That’s why his generation organized, marched, and died to defend the very rights that are under attack today. And it’s why we’re calling on community leaders, organizations, businesses and all Americans to join our efforts in this critical moment for our history and the future of our country.”
Among the other goals mentioned in the letter are training 100,000 volunteers to register voters and ensure they turn out at the polls on Election Day (Nov. 8), recruiting “thousands of lawyers to protect voters in the states where the freedom to vote is threatened” and to “educate voters on how to vote safely in their state.”
The coalition of organizations listed on Obama’s letter will work to “ensure that every voice is heard and every vote is counted in the 2022 midterm elections and beyond,” she wrote. “We’re asking you to join us.”
source: people.com
