SPLC Action Fund: Debate on Vital Bill to Strengthen Democracy Blocked by Partisan Political Loophole

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate held a vote to move the Freedom to Vote Act to the floor for formal debate. This cloture vote failed to receive the necessary 60 votes so that the bill could be debated formally. 

Full language and summary of the bill are available HERE.  

The following statement in support of passage of the Freedom to Vote Act is by LaShawn Warren, Chief Policy Officer for the SPLC Action Fund:  

“The Freedom to Vote Act represents a critical step forward in repairing our democracy and ensuring that citizens can participate in the political process. If signed into law, the Freedom to Vote Act would institute common-sense reforms throughout the country – like ensuring equitable access to vote by mail and early voting, modernizing the voter registration process, restoring voting rights to returning citizens, and requiring nonpartisan redistricting practices – and move us closer to an inclusive democracy where every American can participate in the democratic process and be effectively represented. If passed, Congress must serve its oversight role to make certain that states adopt the national standards and that new criminal penalties, which are designed to protect election officials, are not used disproportionately against communities of color. 

“With state legislatures erecting new barriers to voting that perpetuate a false narrative about last year’s elections, the need for the Freedom to Vote Act couldn’t be clearer — or more urgent. The bills’ provisions enjoy overwhelming bipartisan support from two-thirds of the American public because they would make voting easier, elections more transparent, and representation more equitable and fair.  

“Despite the urgency of the moment and the bill’s popularity, a minority of senators today have used political tricks and loopholes to block mere debate on the Freedom to Vote Act. Today re-emphasizes what was clear earlier this year when 35 senators used the same legislative loophole to prevent debate of a bill to create a bipartisan January 6 investigation committee. Strengthening our democracy, preventing political violence, and making elections accessible to all Americans can’t be subject to the whims of a minority of senators in Washington playing political games.  

“Defenders of democracy, as President Biden urged this summer, must rise to this moment and take the necessary steps within Congress and across the country to fight for an American political system that meets our national ideals.”