DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the July 15, 2021 regular meeting.
WHEREAS, on January 6, 2021, insurrectionists stormed the United States Capitol, leading to five deaths, in a violent action powered by The Big Lie of widespread voter fraud in order to allege that the 2020 presidential election was stolen; and
WHEREAS, the right to vote is under assault with an intensity and aggressiveness that analysts explain has not been seen since the end of Reconstruction, with Republican-led state legislatures in a quarter of the states passing laws to shorten windows for early voting, restrict access to mail voting, tighten or impose voter ID requirements, eliminate Election Day registration, reduce the number of polling places available, make it easier to overturn elections, allow greater interference with election administration, and criminalize efforts by election officials to make it easier to vote; overall, over 400 bills have been introduced in the states to curb voting rights, targeting people of color in particular, since the beginning of 2021; and
WHEREAS, the For the People Act would counteract this threat to our democracy by making it easier to vote in federal elections, protecting and expanding voting rights, creating new campaign finance and ethics rules to curb a small unrepresentative group of mega-donors from being a barrier to diverse candidates, increasing safeguards against foreign election interference, prohibiting extreme partisan gerrymandering;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County supports the passage of The For the People Act, our next great Civil Rights legislation, and urges all Senate Democrats to support efforts to eliminate or reform the filibuster in order to pass the bill to allow President Biden to sign it into law and prevent an outcome where, without fair voting rules in 2022 and 2024, the consequences could include the permanent loss of democracy for our nation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County shall communicate this resolution to Contra Costa County Democrats, the California Democratic Party, and members of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives representing any part of Contra Costa County.
Submitted by:
Renee Zeimer, Elected Member, District 2
Harry Wiener, Associate Member, District 1
Craig Cheslog, Associate Member, District 2