News

Statement On The Passing Of Walter Dellinger

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer One of the nation’s greatest constitutional scholars and Supreme Court lawyers, former Acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, passed away yesterday. (Read more about his remarkable career and contribution to our nation here and here.) Walter, whom I knew for only a few years, was a friend and colleague. He was a […]

The New Jim Crow Laws Are Already Having An Impact On The Primaries

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  February 17, 2022 The attacks on our democracy are moving into the 2022 primary elections. New state voter suppression laws that restrict access to absentee ballots, eliminate ballot drop boxes, drop registered voters from the rolls, and reduce polling places, among other provisions, are about to directly impact voters in […]

Trump’s Ceaseless Efforts To Undermine Our Democracy

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  February 10, 2022 The greatest attacks on voting rights since the days before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 began last year and continue unabated in 2022. These attacks are Trump’s Big Lie in action. Republican officeholders are passing state laws blatantly designed to diminish the ability of Democratic supporters […]

Reforming The Electoral Count Act Does Not Address The Democracy Crisis Facing Our Nation

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  February 3, 2022 Following the defeat last month of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, essential voting rights legislation, by a vote of 52-to-48, a small bipartisan group of Senators turned their focus to repairing the Electoral Count Act of 1877 (ECA). This effort to develop ECA reforms […]

Leadership Conference On Civil And Human Rights And 53 Other Groups, Including Democracy 21, Urge Congress To Remain Focused On The Fight For Voting Rights

Reforms to the Electoral Count Act (ECA) are “needed and welcome, but they simply are not adequate to meet the current moment.” As Congress considers the next steps in the fight to move voting rights forward, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 230 national organizations, and 53 individual […]

The Destructive Impact Of Voter Suppression

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  JANUARY 27, 2022 If anyone had any doubt about the destructive impact that last week’s defeat in the Senate of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act will have on our nation, look no further than this example from Texas. Kenneth Thompson, a 95-year-old World War II veteran, who […]

“The Fight Goes On.”

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  JANUARY 20, 2022 American democracy suffered a major defeat last night. Last night, 52 Senators voted down a filibuster rules change that would have allowed the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to pass the Senate by majority vote. Those Senators – 50 Republicans and two Democrats – joined […]

Statement of D21 On The Senate Voting Down A Filibuster Rules Change That Would Have Allowed Voting Rights To Pass By Majority Vote

  “The Fight Goes On.”  Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer American democracy suffered a major defeat last night. Last night, 52 Senators voted down a filibuster rules change that would have allowed the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to pass the Senate by majority vote. Those Senators – 50 Republicans and […]

Wertheimer Op-Ed On “NBC News Think”: Trump And The GOP’s Biggest Voting Rights Lies — And Why They’re Wrong

As the voting rights debate begins “the decision Senators make will determine whether our democracy and the right to vote will be preserved — or whether Trump’s Big Lie will continue to contaminate the country,” D21 President Fred Wertheimer writes on NBC Think. Debate on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis voting rights legislation is […]

National Pro-Democracy Coalition Calls On Senate Democrats To Hold The Floor Until The Freedom To Vote: John R. Lewis Act Is Passed

On Tuesday night, as the Senate continued debate on the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, a coalition of 63 organizations and partners, including Democracy 21, issued statements regarding the urgency and importance of passing the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act and continuing debate until the legislation is passed. Statement of Democracy […]