HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has joined a coalition of 17 governors that sent a letter to U.S. Senate Leaders Charles Schumer and Mitch McConnell this week expressing concern about threats to our nation’s democracy and urging Congress to protect the rights of voters by passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
State legislatures across the country are considering an unprecedented wave of bills that would undermine the right to vote, and these anti-democratic bills will create disparities that threaten our nation’s electoral process.
The letter states, “Without decisive action by the federal government this year to protect voters’ access to the ballot and ensure the integrity and transparency of our elections, the voices of Americans across the country, especially Americans of color, will be suppressed.”
The letter continues, “It is simply undemocratic for politicians to abuse their power and seek to pre-determine or even overturn our election results. Yet since the 2020 election, state legislators across 48 states have introduced nearly 400 bills to restrict Americans’ access to the ballot. Even now, legislators in some states are pushing to rewrite election laws—some they themselves passed—simply because they did not like the outcome of the last election. These state-level efforts to limit access to the ballot undermine voting rights and create disparities across the country regarding voting access.”
The governors asked Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
The Freedom to Vote Act would stop gerrymandering, bring transparency to elections, push back against voter suppression, protect local election workers from partisan attacks and harassment, and provide post-election audits standards.
The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, update the law following the Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder, modernize the formula identify patterns of discrimination, ensure last-minute changes to voting do not adversely affect voters, and strengthen the government’s ability to send federal observers to jurisdictions where elections are facing threats of discrimination.
The following governors signed the letter:
Tom Wolf Governor of Pennsylvania
Governor Gavin Newsom State of California
Governor Jared Polis State of Colorado
Governor Ned Lamont State of Connecticut
Governor John Carney State of Delaware
Governor David Ige State of Hawaii
Governor JB Pritzker State of Illinois
Governor Gretchen Whitmer State of Michigan
Governor Tim Walz State of Minnesota
Governor Steve Sisolak State of Nevada
Governor Phil Murphy State of New Jersey
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham State of New Mexico
Governor Kathy Hochul State of New York
Governor Roy Cooper State of North Carolina
Governor Kate Brown State of Oregon
Governor Jay Inslee State of Washington
Governor Tony Evers State of Wisconsin
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