Sarah Silverman urges Congress to pass voting bill: ‘What kind of politician wants to keep people from voting?’

Comedian Sarah Silverman is adding her voice to the chorus of celebrities urging Congress to swiftly pass a sweeping voting and elections reform package. 

Her message to lawmakers, however, is unique: Stop being “assholes” and pass the bill.

“It’s going to stop billionaires from straight-up buying our elections. And since it could actually pass, guess who are being total assholes and spreading crazy lies about it? The billionaires and the politicians in their pockets,” Silverman says in a video message for the anti-corruption nonprofit RepresentUs.

“You gotta ask yourself: What kind of politician wants to keep people from voting?” she continues. “I mean, make no mistake about it, these f—ed up voter suppression laws that are popping up everywhere state by state, they’re not because of voter fraud. They’re because of voter turnout.”

The legislation in question, the For the People Act, has emerged as one of congressional Democrats’ biggest priorities, especially as Republican legislatures in several states have moved to pass a slew of new laws that critics say will make it more difficult to vote.

The For the People Act would, among other things, seek to prohibit states from restricting the ability to vote by mail, press states to use independent redistricting commissions to draw their congressional lines and limit the influence of money in politics. 

The House has already approved the measure, but it has met resistance in the Senate. The Senate Rules Committee is slated to hold a markup on the bill on Tuesday.

Democrats say that the legislation is necessary to expand and protect voting rights, especially in the face of new voting restrictions at the state level. 

Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the bill, however, arguing that it amounts to a federal takeover of elections. The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, meaning that the For the People Act is unlikely to reach the 60-vote threshold it would need to advance.

Other celebrities and high-profile figures have weighed in on the legislation. In March, former first lady Michelle Obama and several celebrities including actors Tom Hanks and Tracee Ellis Ross signed an open letter calling on the Senate to pass the For the People Act.