States United Action Statement on the Freedom to Vote Act

Published: 9.14.21

Washington, D.C. — In reaction to the Senate unveiling the Freedom to Vote Act, States United Action released the following statement from States United Action Co-Chairs former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Ambassador Norm Eisen and CEO Joanna Lydgate.

“The surge of attacks on the freedom to vote and the attempts to subvert our elections require leaders from all levels of government to act boldly to protect our democracy. Today, a group of U.S. senators took a big step in the right direction. The Freedom to Vote Act is a landmark compromise bill to protect the will of the American people and strengthen our elections. It takes best practices from red and blue states across the country and hinders attempts to politicize and interfere with election administration. We believe the compromise unveiled today goes a long way to address the dangerous election subversion trend sweeping the nation.”

Additional Resources:

• The Freedom to Vote Act includes multiple provisions that limit election subversion attempts at the state level. States United Democracy Center, Protect Democracy, and Law Forward released the first report “A Democracy Crisis in the Making” documenting this alarming national trend and analyzing the more than 200 bills introduced in state houses seeking to politicize, interfere, and meddle with election administration.

• Following the passage of Texas’ SB1, an omnibus voter suppression bill, States United Action Co-Chairs former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Norm Eisen joined Protect Democracy counsel Jess Marsden in an op-ed urging Congress to address election subversion.
• The Freedom to Vote Act includes a number of provisions from S.1, The For the People Act, including automatic voter registration and early voting requirements. In March, the States United Democracy Center released a first-of-its-kind report, “The Impact of H.R.1 & S.1 on Voting: An Analysis of Key States.” The report examines how federal standards would affect federal elections in particular states, with a focus on how federal legislation would protect the freedom to vote and help thwart voter suppression efforts sweeping statehouses across the country. Much of this state-by-state analysis applies to the newly announced Freedom to Vote Act.

###

About States United Action

States United Action is a nonpartisan section 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization with a mission to protect our elections and our democracy. States United Action advocates for policies that protect election integrity, hold democracy violators accountable, and prevent political violence that threatens to undermine the will of the American people, and amplifies the voices of state leaders and law enforcement leaders who share these values.