Letter - People Power United joins coalition efforts to urge Senators to protect voting rights

🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.

People Power United joined other local, state, and national groups to urge Senators to protect voting rights and oppose Amdt. Budd #1243 on Minibus #1, which represents an attack on the updates on access to voting. Shout out to the Center for Science & Democracy at Union of Concerned Scientists for leading these efforts. Here is the letter sent on behalf of our membership to the Senators:

October 25, 2023 

United States Senate 

Washington, D.C. 20515 

Re: Please oppose Amdt. Budd #1243 on Minibus #1, which represents an attack on the updates on  access to voting  

Dear Senator, 

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters the undersigned groups make the following vote  recommendation to oppose amendment Budd #1243 to S. Amdt 1092 (Transportation, Housing and Urban  Development and Related Agencies; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and  Related Agencies; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies) to H.R. 4366, the  Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bill. 

While not all undersigned organizations work directly on voting rights issues, we appreciate your  consideration of this position. 

VOTE NO 

Amendment Budd #1243. This amendment seeks ‘to prohibit the use of funds to implement or enforce  Executive Order 14019’, which represents an attack on updates on access to voting. President Biden's  Executive Order on Access to Voting is a critical effort to increase nonpartisan voter registration and  participation among eligible Americans. This amendment would not only thwart common-sense, good  government efforts to better serve voters of all stripes, but also frustrate the goals of the decades-old,  bipartisan National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Congress itself found that it is the duty of federal,  state, and local governments to promote the exercise of the fundamental right to vote when it passed the  NVRA 30 years ago. The amendment would undermine access to voting. It would prevent eligible voters  from registering to vote when accessing services at federal agencies that serve millions of eligible  persons, contrary to the goals of the bi-partisan NVRA. It would further limit access to language  assistance, continue the barriers people with disabilities face to vote and maintain the challenges members  of the military and other citizens living abroad to exercise their right to vote. It would do nothing to  protect our election system and the integrity of the vote.  

Again, we urge you to REJECT Budd #1243 in Minibus #1 and thank you for your consideration, 

American Civil Liberties Union 

American Federation of Teachers 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) 

Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) 

Autism Society of America 

Campaign Legal Center 

Center for Living & Working, Inc. 

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) 

Climate Hawks Vote 

Coalition on Human Needs 

Common Cause 

DC Vote 

Declaration for American Democracy Coalition 

Democracy 21

Demos 

Earthjustice 

End Citizens United// Let America Vote Action Fund  Fair Elections Center 

Fair Fight Action 

Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda  

Government Information Watch 

Human Rights Campaign 

Impact Fund 

Interfaith Power & Light  

Jewish Council for Public Affairs 

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights League of Conservation Voters 

League of Women Voters of the United States 

NAACPLDF 

National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities National Center for Transgender Equality 

National Community Action Partnership 

National Council of Jewish Women 

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) 

National Employment Law Project  

National Low Income Housing Coalition 

National Partnership for Women and Families 

Native American Rights Fund 

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice 

New Jersey Association on Correction 

NextGen America  

People For the American Way 

People Power United 

Planned Parenthood Action Fund 

Protect Democracy 

Public Citizen 

Public Justice Center 

RespectAbility 

Secure Elections Network 

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 

Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund 

Stand Up America 

The National Federation of the Blind 

The Workers Circle 

Transform Network 

Union of Concerned Scientists  

Voices for Progress 

Voto Latino