Statement on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act
In February 2022, the Executive Council approved the following statement.
The Executive Council read with great interest the 17 January 2022 letter issued by Scholars Against Authoritarianism and Writers for Democratic Action, which called for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
The council shares the writers’ alarm at the laws being passed in many states that seek to suppress the vote, especially in communities of color; at gerrymandering practices that threaten to quash the will of the majority; at the replacement of state officials with party members who appear eager to overturn elections if their own party does not win; and at the fact that the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance has listed the United States as a backsliding democracy.
The Executive Council of the Modern Language Association of America joins the writers and cosignatories of the letter in urging the Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.