Action needed: Protect our right to vote!

A new report from the Brennan Center for Justice shows that MILLIONS of voters have been purged from the voters rolls since the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County vs. Holder that gutted the Voting Rights Act.

And right now, special interest groups and the super-rich, like the Koch network, are pouring cash into our elections. They’re finding candidates to elect who will push their shady agendas – including disenfranchising voters with policies like requiring voter IDs.

Corporations, billionaires and dark money groups shouldn’t drown out voters’ voices. But when it comes to environmental policies, corporate polluters are calling all the shots, threatening our health, safety and climate. And that’s not even scratching the surface of dark money’s influence: Reproductive rights, gender equity, worker’s rights, health care and more are all under attack.

Right now, we need 100,000 activists to stand up and demand Congress take action to protect every vote. Congress must safeguard our elections: End gerrymandering, fix our campaign finance system and prevent the corrupting influence of corporations. Our future is at stake – and your voice is more important than ever before.

Demand action! Add your name to tell Congress: Protect our right to vote!

Take Action Now. 

AFL-CIO
Common Cause
Daily Kos
Friends of the Earth Action
League of Women Voters
People for the American Way
The Nation
Sierra Club
Voto Latino

E-mail your members of congress in support of the Open Our Democracy Act (H.R. 2981)

Gerrymandering and closed partisan primaries have created a gulf between the US Congress and the American people. And that gulf is growing every day.

One member of Congress is saying “enough is enough!” Congressman John Delaney has introduced the Open Our Democracy Act to create open primaries and end partisan gerrymandering for all federal elections.

He is standing up to the entire Washington establishment. Will you stand with him?

Send your congressional representatives an email in support of the Open Our Democracy Act today. Let’s get this bill a hearing and send a message to John Delaney that we have his back.

By clicking on this LINK, you can send the message below (personalize for even more impact.) 

I am writing to urge you to cosponsor Congressman John Delaney’s Open Our Democracy Act (H.R. 2981). The Open Our Democracy Act would institute an open primary for federal races, would create independent redistricting commissions in each state, and would make Election Day a federal holiday.

Voter anger with our broken political process reached a boiling point during last year’s election. Millions of voters are fleeing the parties and becoming independents, now 45% of Americans. Millions more Democratic and Republican voters are angry about a political system that works to pit Americans against each other, creating unnatural divides among the people. Even the Harvard Business School recently published a report saying our political system is designed to divide, rather than unite, Americans.

I urge you to cosponsor HR 2981 and fix our broken politics

-Jesse Shayne, Open Primaries

Support the Open Our Democracy Act

Washington is a mess. Gerrymandering and closed partisan primaries have created a gulf between the US Congress and the American people. And that gulf is growing every day.

One member of Congress is saying “enough is enough!”

Congressman John Delaney has introduced the Open Our Democracy Act to create open primaries and end partisan gerrymandering for all federal elections.

He is standing up to the entire Washington establishment. Will you stand with him?

Send your congressional representatives an email in support of the Open Our Democracy Act today. Let’s get this bill a hearing and send a message to John Delaney that we have his back.

Video on Open Primaries

Sign the petition from OPEN PRIMARIES.

Take action: Urge your congress member to cosponsor the Open Our Democracy Act.

Washington is a mess. And you and I both know that closed primaries and partisan gerrymandering are only making the problem worse.

Congressman John Delaney just reintroduced the Open Our Democracy Act, which would implement open primaries and end gerrymandering for congressional races. It would also make Election Day a federal holiday.

Of course, this bill will need the people behind it in order to advance. That’s where we come in...

Imagine that: John Delaney is standing up to the entire Washington establishment and saying “enough is enough.” No more closed primaries. No more gerrymandered districts where the parties can control the outcome to their advantage. It’s time to empower the voters.

We need to support Congressman Delaney as he goes to bat on this crucial piece of legislation. We know the parties won’t want to pass it. We know the rest of Congress won’t want to pass it. That’s why they need to hear from YOU.

Click here to urge your congress member to cosponsor the Open Our Democracy Act.

Partisan gerrymandering creates uncompetitive districts where races are determined in the primary. You know that closed primaries allow just a handful of hyper-partisan voters to select who represents everyone, far too often. And you know that the effects of gerrymandering and closed primaries go far past Election Day.

The problem is so bad that the Harvard Business Report just released a report where they said that, “the current partisan primary system is perhaps the single most powerful obstacle to achieving outcomes for the common good.” That’s a powerful statement.

Let’s pressure Congress to give the Open Our Democracy Act a hearing. Click here to send your congress member a letter requesting them to cosponsor this crucial bill.

When you’re done, please, share this page with your network.

- Jesse Shayne
Open Primaries

Hyperpartisan gerrymandering is going before the Supreme Court TODAY. Call you senators

The Republicans have successfully installed a system in states across America that almost guarantees them a majority of legislative seats with a minority of votes.

That system is hyperpartisan gerrymandering -- and today it’s going before the Supreme Court in the case Gill v. Whitford, which may ultimately decide if this illegitimate form of politicians selecting voters is constitutional or not.

That’s why we must enact a 21st Century Voting Rights Act to address hyperpartisan gerrymandering and other abuses of our electoral system. 

Sign the petition supporting this vital law.

Will you call your senator today at (202) 224-3121 and ask him or her whether he or she supports federal legislation to restrict hyperpartisan gerrymandering? 

The idea of drawing district lines to benefit one party or the other is not new; however, a confluence of specific events over the past decade has made gerrymandering a lethal science to our democratic legitimacy.

1. Citizens United unleashed record amounts of dark money into our elections -- which Republicans used in 2010 to target strategic local races that would enable them to control redistricting before Democrats had adapted to the new reality.
2. The Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision that gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2013 has allowed states like North Carolina, Texas, and others to implement racially motivated and hyperpartisan gerrymandering with less federal scrutiny.
3. Between 2000 and 2010, computers became so sophisticated they could tailor-draw maps that all but guarantee which party will win which district.

I’ve called for provisions ending hyperpartisan gerrymandering to be included in the 21st Century Voting Rights Act, and supplemented by state legislation if necessary. But right now, no one is demanding this law -- except thousands of us, already standing up and speaking as one.

Call your senator today at (202) 224-3121 and ask him or her to support a 21st Century Voting Rights Act.

It’s up to us to get our representatives in Congress behind this important set of voter protections. As the Gill v. Whitfordcase unfolds before the Supreme Court today, remember: there is something you and your fellow voters can do. Your voice is valuable in this fight.

- Russ Feingold, LegitAction