For Immediate Release: August 7, 2023

WASHINGTON—With several voting rights bills in Congress and the 58th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice stresses the critical importance of voting rights in the ongoing priority work of protecting democracy.

NETWORK’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer Joan F. Neal said:

“The legacy of the Voting Rights Act is perhaps more critical today than it has ever been in U.S. history. Not since its passage in 1965 has the link been clearer between robust protections of voting rights, especially of Black and Brown communities, and the urgent moral priority to repudiate the anti-democratic sentiment of fascism, authoritarianism and Christian nationalism in our politics. With U.S. democracy under such threat, NETWORK is committed to ongoing action to preserve, protect, and expand the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities that are essential to democratic governance. Current threats to voting and to the accountability of the rule of law will most assuredly destroy this country as we know it if the Voting Rights Act is not celebrated, upheld, and improved for each generation.”

For more information on the voting rights bills currently before Congress, read this analysis by Min. Christian Watkins, NETWORK Government Relations Advocate.

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NETWORK – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. With a 50-year record of accomplishment and more than 100,000 supporters across the country, NETWORK lobbies for federal programs and policies that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org