Ahead of Congress coming back from recess next week, America Votes President Greg Speed calls for Democrats to seize the moment and push for the enactment of a renewed and robust Voting Rights Act (VRA) before providing a single vote to fund the government or raise the debt ceiling.

In his latest editorial “Dems Now Must Up the Ante on Voting Rights,” Speed urges Democrats in Congress to push for a new VRA that will ensure an end to the “War on Voting” and protect democracy following the introduction of more than 452 voter suppression bills in 45 states since the 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision nullifying the VRA’s pre-clearance protections.

Sooner or later, Trump and the GOP leadership will need Democratic votes to fulfill the basic function of governance… Democratic leaders on the Hill should have a simple response to the GOP’s inevitable entreaties: pass the Voting Rights act and THEN, we’ll talk. To put it bluntly: why should Democrats provide a single vote to fund the federal government if it is unable to protect the rights of voters to freely and fairly elect its leaders?

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