Statement to the 16 Million Future Voters Now In US High Schools on the Failure of the US Senate To Pass Voting Rights Reform
Dear Future Voters,
You were right to hope that a majority of U.S. Senators would realize that protecting voting rights is more important than treating a Senate rule as if it can never be changed. Last night, the U.S. Senate let you down.
States across the country have been passing new laws to make it harder to vote, and these laws create special burdens for BIPOC and young people. The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act would have stopped the worst aspects of voter suppression in these new laws and would have protected our democracy in upcoming elections. It passed the House of Representatives, and the President said he would sign it.
Many of you worked very hard to encourage your Senators to support the bill and to change Senate rules to enable its passage. It feels incomprehensible to have every single Senate Republican and two Democrats stand in the way of needed reforms that are fundamental to fair elections.
Please remember that you are a source of hope to the country. Four million of you will graduate from high school this year. Almost all high school seniors and many juniors are old enough to register to vote right now. Eight million young people who were too young to vote in 2020 will be old enough to vote in the November 2022 midterm elections. There is power in that. There is power in continuing the work for needed federal protections and in opposing voter suppression laws.
Your voices matter now more than ever.