For decades, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) was a critical check against anti-democratic efforts to silence and suppress the voices of millions of voters by blocking discriminatory voting laws before they could take effect. Then, in 2013, the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision gutted the VRA, opening the floodgates to a wave of restrictive voting bills, extreme gerrymandering, voter roll purges and polling location closures targeting voters of color.

Now, voting rights are under attack nationwide as Republican-controlled states continue to pass voter suppression laws.

Congress must do everything it can urgently to protect our freedom to vote. That includes passing the Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA)–transformative legislation that together would restore and modernize the full protections of the VRA, set national standards to increase access to the ballot box, neutralize partisan and racial gerrymandering, protect our elections from foreign interference, increase transparency in campaign finance, and more.

The FTVA and John Lewis VRAA would ensure that every eligible American has access to the ballot box and protection against anti-democratic attacks in state legislatures across the nation.

Equal opportunity to vote and participate in our democracy is a fundamental right. Congress has a duty to uphold this freedom by passing these bills, thereby reinforcing and expanding the Voting Rights Act's protections.

Sign the petition to Congress: Restore the Voting Rights Act and our freedom to vote. Pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.