Press Releases
Congresswoman Sewell Speaks at Rally to Reinforce Need to Strengthen the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014
March 11, 2014
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Sewell joined freedom riders from Alabama at the U.S. capitol for a rally to underscore the dire need for Congress to strengthen the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 to include Alabama.
“Our national history is full of stories of ordinary Americans gathering strength in numbers to protest injustices. Today, I was proud to join a network of organizations, including the NAACP, and a caravan of freedom riders from Alabama, North Carolina and across the nation to demand full restoration of the Voting Rights Act,” said Rep. Sewell. “I was honored to speak at the rally today to further reinforce the need for Congress to strengthen the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 so that all vulnerable communities, like those in Alabama, are afforded the protection of federal oversight. We must continue to march for justice and remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that no American is denied their right to vote.”
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Background of “50 Cities/50 Cars/50 Voters at a Time”
Selma Attorney Rose Sanders is the leading organizer of “50 Cities/50 Cars/50 Voters At A Time,” a yearlong campaign to educate voters about the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, striking down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The Campaign began on March 10th in Selma, Alabama from the Edmund Pettus Bridge with a motorcade, ”The Caravan for Democracy: From the State Houses to the White House," that will stop in capital cities for rallies en route to Washington, D.C. Stops include Montgomery, Atlanta, Columbia, Raleigh and Richmond.
Saving Ourselves (S.O.S.) is a network of 40 organizations that organized in response to efforts to gut the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act. Although the network's concerns are multi-faceted, its agenda is focused on voting rights. S.O.S. is launching a campaign to re-ignite a movement that restores and maintains unfettered voting rights, helps secure labor, women, immigrant, health and other vital rights that are essential to a just, democratic nation. Through the “50 Cities/50 Cars/50 Voters At A Time” campaign, S.O.S plans on registering at least one million new voters by the 50th Anniversary of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee in March 2015.