EMILYs List Statement on the 57th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

For Immediate Release
August 6, 2022

EMILYs List Statement on the 57th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List recognizes the 57th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At a time when Republican lawmakers are working overtime to ensure people are disenfranchised in this election and in elections to come, EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler released the following statement:

“On the 57th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we celebrate the freedom to vote because we know that our mission to elect Democratic pro-choice women can only be realized when everyone has the freedom to have their voice heard safely and freely at the ballot box. Yet, as we prepare for the upcoming election, we are watching the same extremist Republican lawmakers who are working to roll back access to abortion restrict our access to the ballot box.

Make no mistake, voting and reproductive rights are on the ballot, and we must do everything possible to ensure freedom and justice for generations to come. That means voting out the elected officials who stand against abortion access and fair voting. We are grateful for all of our endorsed candidates who continue to fight hard to protect these rights because we’ve seen what happens when Democrats win majorities. That is why we are working to elect Democratic pro-choice women who will fiercely protect all of our freedoms.”

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.