Ahead of President Biden's Speech in Georgia and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Young Democrats of America stand firm in our support for voting rights for all and the abolition of the Filibuster in the United States Senate.

The right to vote is sacred and our elected officials must protect it. There is an ongoing effort by GOP-held state legislatures to undermine that vote, especially of our communities of color, and make sure that they consolidate their power and create a government that represents special interests, instead of the true will of the people.

Now more than ever, the United States Senate must pass Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act  in order to make sure that everyone in this nation has the right to vote in a free and fair election, and that our government is run on credibility and integrity without the undue influence of corporate money and lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

However, that value of our vote should be reflected in what our elected officials are able to accomplish in their given legislative bodies. The one obstacle that stands in our way right now is the Filibuster. The Republicans in the Senate will continue to block voting rights legislation with this outdated Jim Crow Era relic.

We know that our Senate cannot function without a simple majority vote. Not only due to small majorities in recent history for both parties, but because Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell created a Senate rife with divisiveness that can no longer function in order to stack the Supreme Court with young, ultra-conservative justices and stonewall any progress to be made, all to cling onto power. With the refusal to meet on any issue in a bipartisan manner, the votes on the most pressing issues of our country can never meet the number to beat the old relic that is the Filibuster.

The Filibuster like many other systems is a holdover from the Jim Crow Era to undermine the progress of those not in power. It’s not something to be celebrated or maintained. We should know by now that “tradition” in this country does not mean that something is just. Right now, between the Filibuster and the concerted effort by Republicans to restrict the right to vote of targeted communities, we must work towards justice as Americans and there will not be justice, until we are all represented equally and fairly in our government. 

Martin Luther King Jr once said, “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by human beings for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison people because they are different from others.” That cannot be more true than today. Only when we can all vote equally will we be truly a nation of equality, justice, and liberty.