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15 Mar, 4 tweets, 2 min read
56 years ago today LBJ introduced Voting Rights Act before joint session of Congress & said, "It is wrong — deadly wrong — to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote." It was known as "We Shall Overcome" speech, one of greatest ever by US president
After gutting Voting Rights Act to unleash wave of new voter suppression in states like GA & TX, GOP now trying to kill what's left of law & pass 253 new voting restrictions

This is why Dems need to pass HR1 & John Lewis Voting Rights Act motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
John Lewis & MLK watched LBJ's speech introducing VRA in Selma, where Lewis brutally beaten 8 days earlier on Bloody Sunday. First time he'd ever seen MLK cry

"To hear Lyndon Johnson say, ‘And we shall overcome,’ it was beautiful" Lewis told me when I wrote Give Us the Ballot
"It’s really kind of simple: Democrats can get rid of the filibuster or they can keep the Jim Crow filibuster and allow Republicans to pass all of these Jim Crow 2.0 laws"

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More from @AriBerman

Ari Berman Profile picture
10 Mar
New: @staceyabrams tells me Senate Dems should exempt bills protecting voting rights from filibuster in order to pass HR1 & John Lewis Voting Rights Act

“the right to protect democracy should not be thwarted by minority imposition" she says

motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Wave of GOP voter suppression bills in states like Georgia makes it all the more urgent for Dems to pass HR1 & John Lewis Voting Rights Act

“if we do not protect the participation of voters in our election system, we will find ourselves losing our democracy” says @staceyabrams
Here’s what @staceyabrams had to say to Dems like Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema who want to keep filibuster

"we have to make certain that a minority of people cannot be in power in the Senate, and therefore deny the basic principles of citizenship to millions of Americans"
Read 7 tweets
Ari Berman Profile picture
8 Mar
Breaking: Republicans in Georgia Senate just voted to repeal no-excuse absentee voting, which 1.3 million voters used in November, including 450,000 Republicans

Georgia Republicans wrote mail voting law & defended until Dems & Black voters started using in large numbers
Georgia Republicans passing largest rollback of voting rights since Jim Crow, targeting mail voting, early voting & automatic voter registration

"every single metric of voter access that has been a good in Georgia is now under attack” says @staceyabrams motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
It’s more important than ever for Dems to pass For the People Act & John Lewis Voting Rights Act to stop GOP voter suppression

“Republicans unchecked are creating an existential crisis for democracy” @staceyabrams tells me motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Read 11 tweets
Ari Berman Profile picture
7 Mar
On March 7 1965 John Lewis brutally beaten marching for voting rights on Bloody Sunday in Selma

56 years later Republicans have introduced 253 new voter suppression laws in 43 states

This is why we need to pass John Lewis Voting Rights Act & For the People Act
At time of Bloody Sunday in March 1965 only 2% of Blacks registered to vote in Selma. You had to name all 67 county judges to get on voting rolls 

Because of incredible courage of John Lewis & civil rights activists, LBJ introduced Voting Rights Act 8 days later
On anniversary of Bloody Sunday Biden issues executive order making it easier to vote

“elected officials in 43 states have already introduced more than 250 bills to make it harder for Americans to vote. We cannot let them succeed” whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
Read 4 tweets
Ari Berman Profile picture
3 Mar
New: @amyklobuchar tells me she supports ending filibuster to pass For the People Act

"we have raw exercise of political power going on where people are making it harder to vote & you can’t let that happen in a democracy because of old rules in Senate” motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
HR1 would be largest expansion of voting rights since passage of Voting Rights Act in 1965:

-Automatic & Election Day registration
-2 weeks early voting
-Expand vote by mail
-Stop voter purging
-Independent redistricting
-Public financing elections
Dems can eliminate filibuster to pass HR1 & John Lewis Voting Rights Act to stop GOP voter suppression

Or they can allow GOP to undermine democracy for next decade

Stakes couldn't be higher
Read 9 tweets
Ari Berman Profile picture
1 Mar
Breaking: Georgia’s GOP-controlled House passes new voter suppression bill #HB531 cutting weekend voting, restricting mail ballot drop boxes, adding voter ID for mail ballots, giving voters less time to return ballots & dramatically limiting runoff time after Dems won in Nov/Jan
"Georgia is ground zero for the GOP’s escalating war on voting, targeting the voting methods that were used most by Democratic voters in 2020 and which contributed to flipping the state blue and electing two Democratic senators" motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Dems have a clear choice: they can get rid of filibuster to pass John Lewis Voting Rights Act & For the People Act to stop GOP voter suppression

Or they can allow GOP to undermine democracy for next decade

The stakes couldn’t be higher
Read 7 tweets
Ari Berman Profile picture
1 Mar
In 2013 Supreme Court gutted Voting Rights Act & unleashed wave of voter suppression in states like GA TX NC

Now GOP pushing 253 new voting restrictions in 43 states & trying to kill what’s left of VRA before SCOTUS tmrw

This is huge threat to democracy motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
In early 1980s John Roberts led effort to weaken Voting Rights Act at Reagan DOJ

In 2013 he wrote opinion gutting heart of VRA

Now Republicans trying to finish what Roberts started so they can pass even more egregious voter suppression laws
Ted Cruz & Mitch McConnell tell SCOTUS Section 2 of Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional

This is a truly extreme position

They want to kill what’s left of VRA so Republicans can enact unlimited # of new voter suppression laws
Read 6 tweets

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