League demands a hearing on For The People Act
April 26, 2019
League of Women Voters of Kentucky Demands a Hearing on the For the People Act
LOUISVILLE, KY - Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, is refusing to give the For the People Act a Senate vote although Senator Tom Udall (D – New Mexico) introduced the legislation last month after it passed the House of Representatives. Consequently, the League of Women Voters of Kentucky is running a full page, color ad in the Courier Journal on Sunday, April 28th urging our fellow Kentuckians to call their Senators and demand a hearing on the For the People Act. Smaller ads will appear in the paper on Saturday and Monday as well as ads on its website and open digital positions.
Fran Wagner, President of the League of Women Voters of Kentucky, commented that “Kentuckians have lost confidence that our voices are being heard and fairly represented. We have a system in which corporate/money interests unduly influence politicians, gerrymandered districts strip voters of their voice, and voting restrictions disenfranchise eligible voters. People who work 12-hour shifts or multiple jobs, parents whose children must be transported to day care before and after work, and disenfranchised ex-felons are a few examples of an election system that makes it impossible for thousands of Kentuckians to vote because of existing restrictions.”
“The For the People Act,” LWVKY Board Member, Cindy Heine, added “takes direct aim at many of the current roadblocks to making democracy work. Some have said that it is a power grab, and it is: it takes power away from special interests and returns it to the people. Passage would be a huge step forward for democracy. The Senate must hold a hearing.”
# # #
The League of Women Voters envisions a democracy in which every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate. The League is proud to be non-partisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties, but always working on vital issues of concern to voters.