This past Monday, Red Wine & Blue held a virtual event about the SAVE Act - a bill that could keep millions of American citizens from voting by enacting restrictive ID and in-person voter registration requirements. The event was attended by over 4,000 people who were worried about how the SAVE Act could disenfranchise us and our fellow Americans.
We heard from voting rights expert Wendy Weiser, Congresswomen Emilia Sykes and Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus Leger Fernandez, but the breakout star of the event was Emily Carter - a woman in Georgia who recently spoke up at a town hall meeting for her Congressman, Republican Rich McCormick. Representative McCormick is one of the sponsors of the SAVE Act and Emily had some tough questions for him, despite never attending at a town hall meeting before.
She wasn’t rude or disruptive, but she demanded answers about why he sponsored a bill that could take away her right to vote just because she changed her last name when she got married. He was predictably evasive in his answer, but it made a real impact on the rest of the crowd. It had an even bigger impact on social media.
Two days ago, Republican leadership even advised their members of Congress to stop holding in-person meetings because enough Emilys have been speaking out.
On the one hand, the cowardly refusal to listen to their own constituents is frustrating. On the other hand, people like Emily are clearly making a difference by holding their representatives accountable. If your local representatives are still holding town hall meetings, show up and speak your mind! We have some tips in this video about how to prepare for a town hall. And if your representative is not holding meetings, make a phone call or even better, show up to their office. Don’t let them hide from their constituents.
The MAGA agenda is wildly unpopular, even with Republicans. It’s up to us to keep making our voices heard.
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