Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) sponsored H.R. 5746, amended to become the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, which would be the most significant pro-democracy legislation in the U.S. in  half a century. It would restore and modernize the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the Supreme Court undermined  in Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, and it would update them to better address the modern forms of voter suppression seen in hundreds of anti-voter bills filed in state legislatures across the country in the last two years. This legislation would also protect free and fair elections by safeguarding and expanding voter access, banning partisan gerrymandering, modernizing voter registration, strengthening our campaign finance system, protecting election integrity, and promoting the security of election systems. Everyone’s right to be heard and counted in the political process is essential to the functioning of our democracy and the protection of our environment, and far too often it is people of color and frontline communities who are targeted by restrictive voting laws and partisan gerrymandering – the same communities most impacted by climate change and environmental injustice. Ensuring that voters have access to the ballot box and their voices are not drowned out by outsized corporate interests would better equip the people to hold politicians accountable and safeguard meaningful public health and environmental protections. On January 13, the House approved H.R. 5746 by a vote of 220-203 (House roll call vote 9). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The Senate failed to invoke cloture on this bill and subsequently failed to adopt a procedural motion that would have allowed this bill to pass with a simple majority.