Stacey Abrams-founded group launches voting rights campaign

Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams (D), is launching a campaign to help educate minority and progressive voters about two federal voting rights bills, CBS News reported Wednesday.

In their new initiative called “Hot Call Summer,” Fair Fight Action is pushing for several provisions that they argue should be included in voting rights legislation, including expanding mail-in voting, reducing long lines at polling centers, ending threats toward polling workers and ensuring fair election results.

“Thanks to the 40,000 (!) calls made by advocates across the country, we secured Democratic unity on the #ForThePeopleAct. But the work continues,” Fair Fight Action shared in a tweet. “We’re relaunching #HotCallSummer to keep pushing Congress to pass #S1 and #RestoreTheVRA to ensure every voter’s voice can be heard.”

The hashtags refer to two different bills, the For the People Act, which lacks GOP support, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a narrower bill that has a better chance of passing Congress.

Voting rights groups have pressed for Democrats to end the legislative filibuster to move the For the People Act. 

The director of organizing for Fair Fight Action Hillary Holley told CBS News in a statement that they are “turning the heat up” on lawmakers to ensure they can establish “minimum national voting standards” and strengthen the Voting Rights Act. 

Thanks to the 40,000 (!) calls made by advocates across the country, we secured Democratic unity on the #ForThePeopleAct. But the work continues. We’re relaunching #HotCallSummer to keep pushing Congress to pass #S1 and #RestoreTheVRA to ensure every voter’s voice can be heard. https://t.co/bPYvCEyqxE

— Fair Fight (@fairfightaction) July 14, 2021

President Biden on Tuesday denounced GOP-led states for attempting to pass new restrictive voting laws, referring to the efforts as the “21st-century Jim Crow assault.”

Abrams, who ran as a candidate in Georgia’s gubernatorial race in 2018, has been praised by members of the party for her efforts as a voting rights activist, and she was credited with helping Democrats win back the state of Georgia in the 2020 presidential race.