Stacey Abrams is asking all of use to call our Senators today.
No matter where you live, no matter if you have called before or never done so, and no matter who your Senator is, it’s crucial that they hear from you on the importance of federal action on voting rights. ~Stacey Abrams
You just have to do something. This is what you can do today.
Right now, in states across the country, our democracy is under attack – a coordinated assault on voting rights by Republican legislators that only increases the urgency for federal voting rights protections.
Now is the moment for all of us to take action to defend our sacred right to vote, and to fight back against anti-voter bills in state legislatures across the country. Today, over 360 bills have been filed in state legislatures that would restrict voting access and curtail voters’ freedoms – bills like those in Arizona, which would gut their extremely popular and effective Permanent Early Vote List; a proposal in Texas to greatly empower partisan poll watchers with greater and closer access to voters, prohibit election officials from proactively mail ballot applications to all voters, and set new penalties for election officials who provide assistance to voters; legislation in Michigan removing the right to return a mail ballot to a drop box after 5pm the day before Election Day, and more. Some anti-voter bills, such as SB 202 in Georgia and SB 90 in Florida, have already been signed into law.
However, your voices are slowing this flood of anti-voter legislation, and have helped to protect voting access from Republican attacks. In New Hampshire, Republicans were forced to give up on a bill that would confuse student voters and harm the university system by standing up new residency requirements. In Georgia, provisions that would have removed no-excuse absentee voting, eliminated Sunday early voting, and ended automatic voter registration were removed before SB 202 was signed into law. In West Virginia, a bill that would have shortened early voting and accessibility failed before the session ended. Without your calls, social media, and safe in-person advocacy, voters would have been much worse off.
But make no mistake: To protect the freedom to vote for all eligible Americans, this moment demands that we pass federal legislation that safeguards the right to vote. I am asking you to take action today to call on your US Senators to pass the For the People Act, a crucial bill that can blunt these relentless attacks and protect access to the ballot for all.
Find your Senators’ contact information here, and call now to ask that they support the urgent passage of the For the People Act to protect our democracy. Once you have called, share with your networks and friends to ask them to do the same.
No matter where you live, no matter if you have called before or never done so, and no matter who your Senator is, it’s crucial that they hear from you on the importance of federal action on voting rights. Together, we can get good done and ensure the freedom to vote is protected across the country.
Thank you, and let’s get it done.
Stacey Abrams Founder, Fair Fight Action
Ksmiami
My Senators in Texas are worthless but ffs call Manchin and Sinema
eclare
@Ksmiami: Same here in TN.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
if you are in Arizona or West Virginia. Calling Senators and MoC’s other than your own is just harassing low-paid staffers and clogging up the lines for home state activists
Ksmiami
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I mean for ppl from those states to call.
WaterGirl
@Ksmiami: @eclare:
I trust Stacey Abrams, and she believes it’s important to call no matter how much of a piece of shit your senator might be.
If all they get are calls from the people who want to limit voting rights, that benefits the piece of shit senators.
Please consider calling.
germy
She has said she’d like to be president someday. If I’m still around when she decides to run, I’ll be voting for her.
WaterGirl
I left a message for Tammy Duckworth. Dick Durbin’s voicemail said they are experiencing high call volume and to call back later.
CaseyL
My Senators, Murray and Cantwell, were among the co-signers introducing the bill. I have called their offices to thank them in general, to thank them for introducing this bill specifically, and to ask them to do whatever they can to get enough Senators on board to pass the bill.
But, you know. No GQPer will vote for any bill that upholds voting rights. As the GQP itself has acknowledged, the only way they can win is to keep people from voting.
WaterGirl
@germy: It’s also democracy vs. autocracy.
Kelly
Merkley and Wyden are cosponsors
germy
Ugh.
Trump family members got ‘inappropriately close’ to Secret Service agents, book claims
zhena gogolia
@germy: What a slimeball he is.
UncleEbeneezer
@WaterGirl: Try their local offices. You can usually get through better there.
eclare
@zhena gogolia: Just garbage people, every last one of them. Jury is still out on Barron.
lowtechcyclist
Both my (Maryland) Senators are cosponsors, and I called their offices to thank them.
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: Thank you!
WaterGirl
I find it so irritating that my stove doesn’t heat my leftovers unless I actually turn the burner on. Shouldn’t it be enough that I have set the timer?!!?!
My intent was clear!
TheflipPsyD
Just spoke with a staffer in Senator Coons office and left a message with Senator Carper’s office. They are both co-sponsers, so I thanked them for their continued support and for working to get the bill passed.
Ksmiami
@eclare: and their supporters are trash as well…
Joy in FL
I just called my two Florida GOP senators. I got voicemail for both. I left an unambiguous message asking them to vote in accordance with the oath they each have taken to uphold the U.S. Constitution and therefore vote for the For The People Act.
Ann Marie
I left messages with both Senator Casey, whom I expect will support the act, and Toomey, who probably will not, but may, as he is not running for office again, which sometimes emboldens Republicans to do the right thing.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
Did you say Hey Google?
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: I won’t have any of those devices in my house. Ugh. Do not get the appeal. :-)
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl: I have a Sonos sound bar on the kitchen TV that integrates Google voice. It’s handy to say “Hey Google, add mayo to the grocery list” as I am emptying the last jar while making macaroni salad.
JoyceH
@zhena gogolia:
Does that guy even OWN a mirror?!
stinger
Does anyone have anything like a script? My senators are Grassley and Ernst, so it’s probably a waste of my time, but I’d be willing to call anyway if I had some talking points.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JoyceH: Yes, but it’s a funhouse mirror.
J R in WV
@stinger:
Here’s what should be all you need from Joy in FL:
@Joy in FL:
Noskilz
It’s important to contact your elected officials even if they are idiots, because the only math they care about is whether they get elected or not. If enough people hassle them about a given issue, they then have to weigh how much of a risk it is to ignore that issue – just not bothering is basically giving them the all clear to carry on. Blackburn, about as trumpy as they come, has gotten enough heat on a couple occasions to have to do some – admittedly mostly cosmetic – damage control. It doesn’t cost anything to call as senator other than a minute or two of your time.
mrmoshpotato
Via bluegal
Again for those in the back – Fuck Morning Joe!
WaterGirl
@stinger: I don’t have a script. It’s not like you are going to win them over with a good argument, so I keep it short and sweet. My goal is two fold – to have them put a checkmark in the column that says I support the bill and to get the message across that this is important to me and others.
Maybe others can chime in what what they said.
edit: what Joy in FL said is better than mine!
James E Powell
@mrmoshpotato:
Another lesson in “dislikes Trump” =/= “good person”
Kristine
@WaterGirl:
I emailed given that their websites state that their offices are closed.
Matt
I get the _idea_ of “everybody call Congress”, but in this case I really don’t see the point:
My take: it doesn’t matter how many people call, Manchin and Sinema have already decided they prefer fascism to democracy – being the controlled opposition keeps those donor dollars flowing into their pockets.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: Whatever works!
Lobo
Called Bennet and Hickenlooper. Left VM with Bennet. Urged Hickenlooper to work with reluctant Democrats to exempt voting bills from filibuster.
WaterGirl
@Matt: I’ll reply with what @Noskilz: said at #29:
And with what Stacey Abrams said:
WaterGirl
@Lobo:
That’s a good idea.
Uncle Cosmo
@lowtechcyclist: Good to know.
I’m tempted to call Manchin. Mom grew up in Fairmont, Dad went to school in Morgantown and played on a legendary semipro baseball team in Grant Town – and most importantly, I got a
shitshort ton of cousins back there.UncleEbeneezer
I left this message: I’m calling to urge Sen. Feinstein/Padilla to pass the For The People Act, even if that means eliminating or reforming the legislative filibuster to do so.
H.E.Wolf
When I see or hear comments like this, I wonder if that person has never known a woman, or a person of color, or an LGBTQ+ person, or an immigrant, or a child.
We participate in civic affairs via phone conversation with our elected officials – we wield our privilege – to assist those whose voices are not as loudly heard.
If a phone call is anathema, https://faxzero.com/ is one alternative: 4 free faxes per day, with many Senators’ fax numbers provided at the website.
laura
I’ve left a message with Feinstein’s office but was unable to do so with Senator Alex Padilla’s. He is a strong supporter of the For the People Act, but I’d have been glad to thank his staff and urge him to work on others in the Senate to pass this as necessary to protect our democracy – same as the message to the Senior Senator.
Nelle
I called Ernst and Grassley. Will get my daughter and her husband to call Sinema and Kelley
?BillinGlendaleCA
@laura:
Hardly surprising since his previous gig was Secretary of State for California.
WaterGirl
Big thanks to everyone who has called, is calling, or will call their senators!
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Unless you were talking about a Republican, in which case, that would be an unreasonable conclusion!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: I did say California.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, you have all but exterminated those vermin in CA. Good job.
cmorenc
GOP’s wave of post-2020 election voter suppression efforts and their continued fealty to Trump are interrelated:
1) The Georgia and Arizona examples demonstrated to the GOP how Dem/Progressive efforts to increase turnout by citizens inclined to vote D were imminently threatening to overtake the numbers the GOP could turn out in states where they formerly dominated by a comfortable margin;
2) In some states where going into election day the Ds were regarded as narrow favorites, most notably North Carolina, Trump’s October campaigning managed to flush out enough extra R-voting turnout to narrowly tip the presidential and senate races to the GOP. In other words, without Trump very actively late campaigning in certain areas, the Ds might have pulled off at least a modest-sized wave in House and Senate elections (besides the two D upsets in Ga). We might have had at least another half-dozen house seats and a couple more Senate seats.
3) Of course, an additional motivation to stick with Trump by the GOP is the perception that he can sink any GOP incumbent’s or candidate’s chances of retaining/winning a seat by supporting a primary challenger, or at least refusing to offer his support.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Medium-good news
Madeleine
I left voicemail for Gillibrand and Schumer. Gillibrand’s local voicemail was full. Thanked them and told them why the bill is important to me, mentioning the need to counter the horrible state Repub laws limiting voting.
FYI according to Indivisible, every senator except Manchin has cosponsored. They also have a good run down of what’s in the bill.
stinger
@J R in WV:
@WaterGirl:
Thanks to you both. I’ve called their local offices and talked to the interns there.
Another Scott
My peeps are co-sponsors and are on-board.
I’ll send them a note. ;-)
Thanks, WG and everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
Quantumman
Calling our senators here in Tennessee is like yelling down a well.
WaterGirl
@stinger: Go, you!
The first call is always the hardest.
stinger
@WaterGirl: Actually, I’ve called both senators in the past, but I always feel like a tongue-tied dork for some reason. The indifferent youths taking my call, my near certainty that the call is pointless — I just feel better when I have a firm idea of what to say, no matter how they react (if at all, usually not at all).
WaterGirl
@stinger: I feel the much the same way.
Next time, it would probably be helpful if I listed a few potential talking points in the post!
stinger
@WaterGirl: I for one would appreciate it!
Another Scott
@stinger: Here’s what I sent my senators (Warner and Kaine, swapping their names as appropriate) via their web contact forms:
In general, I try to keep it short and to the point, with the hope that someone will be able to read it and see the point I’m trying to make. :-)
HTH a little. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
caphilldcne
Sadly I do not have a Senator. However, I’ll make a small donation to Stacey’s group!
WaterGirl
@stinger: I might have to outsource to Joy in FL – she is clearly better at it than I am! :-)
edit: or Another Scott!
trnc
I called my 2 NC republican senators, both the anti and pro-insurrection one. Had to leave vm for both.
WaterGirl
@trnc:
Ugh.
J R in WV
@Matt:
This may be the most stupid and thoughtless comment I’ve ever seen on Balloon-Juice. Democracy means telling elected representatives what to do. It’s the only way we get to participate outside donations, working for a candidate in an election cycle, and just voting.
If you don’t call a Senator, you aren’t playing the game, you are voiding your shot at democracy.
Are you even registered to vote?
Do you even know how to vote?
No wonder I had to toggle your comment to see what it said — you must have said relatively stupid stuff once before to trigger the pie safe.
Joy in FL
@WaterGirl: There is only one WaterGirl! and I’m delighted to be in alliance with you : )
Comrade Colette
@UncleEbeneezer: I called Feinstein’s and Padilla’s local offices and left the same message you did – with a bit more warm thanks to Padilla for his support and a bit more urgency to Feinstein to dropkick the filibuster. First time I’ve ever called either of them.
Thanks to Stacey Abrams, WG, and the jackaltariat for the nudge.
Oh yeah, and thanks to Stacey Abrams for the entire goddamn Senate. Queen!
Another Scott
We’ve all seen this game before.
Sensible Democrats are paying attention. I trust Manchin and Sinema are as well.
Cheers,
Scott.