We have a President hostile to fixing the system and a Congress currently controlled by reform opponents. However, history makes clear that reform issues are cyclical in nature: the kind of scandalous system that exists today has led to major reforms in the past, and can do so again in the future.
“States and municipalities aren’t waiting for Congress to lead on limiting big money in politics,” Democracy 21 advisor Matt Keller and Christine Wood, co-director of the Declaration for American Democracy Coalition, write in an op-ed published in The Hill. “All in all, 14 states and more than 20 localities provide the option for candidates to take advantage […]
“A transformational moment in history happened 59 years ago today in Selma, Alabama. Hundreds of foot soldiers for justice marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge – named after the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan – to claim their fundamental right to vote. “They were beaten. They were bloodied and left for dead. Our […]
Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the “Saturday Night Massacre” – the firing of Special Watergate Prosecutor Archibald Cox in October 1973 that set off a firestorm and created a constitutional crisis. The Watergate scandals led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, the first and only resignation of a President, and spurred a series of historic […]
This week, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a vital measure to protect the sacred right to vote. Every one of Sewell’s House Democratic colleagues joined as cosponsors. Former President Donald Trump unleashed a slew of new state voter suppression laws with his Big Lie that the 2020 presidential […]
“Protecting the sacred right to vote for all eligible Americans should be a priority for all Members of Congress.” Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, introduced in the House today, is a vitally important step forward in the work to protect the sacred right to vote for […]
Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | July 20, 2023 This week, congressional Democrats made clear their determination to fight for as long as it takes to enact essential voting rights and other democratic reforms. At a press conference on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the reintroduction of the […]
Democracy 21 today strongly urged Senators and Representatives to support the Freedom to Vote Act, historic voting rights legislation that is being reintroduced today in the Senate and House. “The Freedom to Vote Act is historic legislation that provides a holistic and comprehensive approach to fixing our broken political system and repairing our corrupt campaign […]
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today reintroduced the DISCLOSE Act to continue his decade-long effort to end secret contributions, or “dark money,” from being spent in federal elections. The Act was first introduced in 2010 by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Representative Chris van Hollen (D-MD) and has been introduced and advocated by Senator Whitehouse in […]
Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | December 22, 2022 On November 4, 2020 — one day after Election Day 2020 — Rick Perry, Trump’s Energy Secretary, contacted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with a proposal. Perry proposed an “AGRESSIVE [sic] STRATEGY” to have Republican-controlled state legislatures in key battleground states override the voters and […]
Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | December 15, 2022 The Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) is essential legislation that would close a dangerous loophole in the 19th-century Electoral Count Act. The loophole would permit a state legislature to replace the presidential electors chosen by the state’s voters on Election Day with the choice of the legislature. […]
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