The Democracy Action Team is working on advocacy plans for 2021. After meetings with Senate staffers last month, the Team agreed on its priorities for this year as well as the groups it hopes to partner with. (Find the team’s complete report HERE.)

The Team’s priorities focus on:

• Ensuring fair elections
• Enabling voters’ participation and making it easier to vote
• Providing equal electoral access
• Ensuring public officials work for the public interest; and
• Increasing the effectiveness of Congress

The Team is working on passing the For the People Act of 2021 H.R.1 and its companion bill S.1. This legislation would address the Team’s first four priorities.  If passed, it will promote fairer elections, more equal access for vulnerable populations, encourage wider voter participation, and protect voting rights.

Passage would also demonstrate a more effective bipartisan Congress. The Senate has been particularly ineffective in passing bipartisan legislation for a number of years. Hopefully, fair elections, increasing voter participation, and providing equal access to the electoral process is something members of both parties can agree on. The country is in crisis and now is the time for bold action and legislation.

During our 16 meetings with Senate staffers, they suggested working with other faith-based coalitions will yield a greater impact. To that end, the Team is already working with Faithful Democracy, a national coalition of diverse congregations, faith-based organizations, and religious leaders with a shared concern about the state of our democracy. There are a number of other groups we are following including the Poor People’s Campaign, the Brennan Center, the League of Women Voters, Declaration for American Democracy, Common Cause, Public Citizen, ACLU, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Nearly all of them are also focused on passing HR1.

Interested in learning more? Contact Convenor, Fred Van Deusen.