Washington, D.C.— Project Vote will travel to Roanoke, Virginia’s Elmwood Park this Thursday, June 25, to join civil rights groups and voting rights advocates in a rally to restore the Voting Rights Act. On this 2nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision to gut the Voting Rights Act, Project Vote will gather with hundreds of concerned Americans to defend the right to vote and ensure that all Americans can participate in our democracy.
While Project Vote rallies for voting rights and democracy in Roanoke, the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) will hold a press conference at the Martin Luther King Memorial in D.C. calling on Congress to restore the VRA—the civil rights legislation for which Martin Luther King Jr. and countless others fought so hard.
Free from federal oversight since the Shelby decision, lawmakers across the country have adopted discriminatory policies and voting restrictions that make it harder for Americans to exercise their right to vote. Despite mounting evidence of modern-day voting discrimination running rampant throughout our country, Congress has failed to restore the VRA.
“It would be nice to think that racial injustice was truly a thing of the past in America, but recent events have reminded us that this country is still grappling fiercely with issues of violence, discrimination, and inequality,” said Project Vote president, Michael Slater. “The protections of the Voting Rights Act are every bit as vital now as they were 50 years ago, and Congress must act now to restore them if we as a nation are to go forward, not backwards.”
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Project Vote is a national nonpartisan, non-profit organization dedicated to building an electorate that accurately represents the diversity of America’s citizenry. Project Vote takes a leadership role in nationwide voting rights and election administration issues, working through research, litigation, and advocacy to ensure that every eligible citizen can register, vote, and cast a ballot that counts.
For more information and interviews, please contact Michael McDunnah at 202-905-1397.