TAKE ACTION to OPPOSE Voter Suppression Bills SB 7 and HB 6

As Rev. Barber says, it's the dying mule that always kicks the hardest. Conservative lawmakers have filed a record number of voter suppression bills aimed at making it harder to vote in response to record-level voter participation during the 2020 election.  We must fight back!

Both the State House and State Senate will be holding public hearings for voter suppression bills, Senate Bill 7 and House Bill 6.  SB 7 is a huge bill that contains many tactics of voter suppression, several of which can be considered a poll tax.  House Bill 6 is the companion bill to SB 7, meaning that the bills are very similar, only HB 6 also calls for "purity of the ballot box".  

SB 7 will:
  • limit voting hours from 7 AM to 7 PM. This bill will prevent hourly workers –– who do not have the luxury of taking a long lunch break –– the ability to vote.  
  • purposefully intimidate volunteers who want to assist poor and low-income individuals from giving rides to the polls.
  • limit the number of polling machines in counties that use countywide polling, thereby creating long lines in areas that consist predominantly of people of color.
  • create a financial burden to members of the disability community who would be forced to obtain a doctor's note in order to vote by mail. This will prevent them from exercising their constitutional right to cast their ballot. In the words of Rev. Dr. William Barber II, "A poll tax by another name is still a poll tax."

Please fill in your contact info in the form on the right to send your elected official an email about SB 7.  A standard call to action/letter is provided that you can edit.

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Throughout the legislative session, w e will be preparing letters/calls to action to send to elected officials. Legislative s taffers keep track of how many people contact their elected officials to oppose/support legislation, which can influence how an elected official votes when a bill comes to the floor. Please share these calls to action with your friends, family, faith leaders, and neighbors!

This will be the first call to action of many over the upcoming weeks, as these voter suppression bills come up for public hearings.  The Legislature can hold hearings on very short notice, and they only require that hearing notices be posted for 48-72 hours prior, depending on the chamber. That means that we need to be able to mobilize folks quickly in order to fight back.