Action memo from Democracy for America #MLK #occupy

Today we celebrate a great leader who fought hard to make sure that all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin, could fully participate in our Democracy. The most fundamental right Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for was the right to vote.

And today, those rights are under attack.

This year, 34 Republican state legislatures introduced bills designed to turn voters away from the polls who cannot produce specific types of state issued ID. If all of these bills pass, roughly 21 million voters will lose their right to vote. And, it's no coincidence that most of those voters are minorities, students, and elderly voters who vote Democrat.

That's why, today, we are supporting Rep. Keith Ellison's two bills to protect the right to vote.

Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor today to protect the right to vote by making sure election boards cannot require state ID and allowing voters to register the same day they go to the polls.

Rep. Keith Ellison, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, explains how these bills affect voters in a recent post on Daily Kos:

In Indiana, 12 nuns were denied the right to vote in the last presidential election because they didn't have "updated" identification. The facts that some of them had old passports, they were in their 80s and 90s and didn't drive--or that they're nuns--seemed not to be a good basis for affirming their identities.

These are not isolated incidents. They are part of the largest effort to disenfranchise voters since the Jim Crow era, almost exclusively targeting youth and minority voters.

To stop this attack on voting rights, Rep. Ellison introduced two bills to curb voter suppression. The Same Day Registration Act would require states to provide for same day voter registration for a federal election. The Voter Access Protection Act would make sure election officials cannot require photo identification in order to cast a vote or register to vote.

Add your voice and become a citizen co-sponsor of these two bills today.

Don't allow this year to be the first in our history that we shrink the size of the voting public, instead of expanding it. Make this Martin Luther King Day count, and sign on to protect voting rights.

Thank you for all that you do,

- Levana

Levana Layendecker, Communications Director
Democracy for America

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