EMILYs List Statement on Senate Votes on Voting Rights Legislation

For Immediate Release
January 20, 2022

EMILYs List Statement on Senate Votes on Voting Rights Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to last night’s votes in the Senate on moving crucial voting rights legislation forward, EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement:

“Last night, Republicans continued their concerted effort to undermine our freedom to vote. As Democrats fought for a bill that would ensure voters can cast their ballots freely and safely, Republicans were unified in rolling back our rights. Unfortunately, two Democrats refused to support a path forward on the bill. We believe the decision by Sen. Sinema is not only a blow to voting rights and our electoral system but also to the work of all of the partners who supported her victory and her constituents who tried to communicate the importance of this bill. As a result, as we noted earlier this week, we will no longer be able to endorse Sen. Sinema moving forward.

“Our focus is on the coming elections and the best path forward electorally. Access to the ballot is critical to our ability to make our voices heard, and is particularly necessary at a point when abortion rights are under constant threat. This Republican anti-voter, anti-choice effort is not just happening at the federal level. It is happening in states across the country. We know this is a setback, but we remain committed to a strong electoral system, and to electing the Democratic pro-choice women at all levels of government who will protect all of our rights.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.