By Keya Vakil/The Copper Courier – June 24, 2021

“My faith teaches that all voices should be valued and all voices should be heard, and HR 1/S 1 is a way for that to happen. It’s going to help all voices be heard, which is just so central to our faith traditions. It’s going to help our vulnerable neighbors have access to having more of a say in what impacts their own lives, instead of not being able to have any say in that.” – Rev. Katie Sexton-Wood, Executive Director, AFN

The Rev. Anne Ellsworth was frustrated, but had a sense of what was coming. On Tuesday afternoon, Republicans in the US Senate blocked the most significant voting rights bill in decades.

Ellsworth, a priest at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Parish in Tempe, and other local faith leaders have spoken out in recent months about protecting voting rights and expanding access to the ballot box as a Christian issue, not a partisan one.

“This has nothing to do with political affiliation and it has everything to do with Christian identity. Bringing marginalized voices into democracy and helping restore their right to participate is a Christian issue,” Ellsworth told The Copper Courier. “This is central to our identity. We’ve always been part of movements that have helped further the cause of inclusion, and this is no different.”

But voting rights has become a partisan issue among lawmakers. Following the lead of former President Donald Trump, many Republicans across the country have bought into “The Big Lie,” the thoroughly disproven claim that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.

While all 50 Senate Democrats, including Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, voted to begin debate on HR 1/S 1, also known as the For the People Act, not a single Republican voted for a bill that would make voting more accessible and convenient for Americans and overhaul standards for federal elections.

The proposal aims to make Election Day a national holiday, enable automatic, online, and same-day voter registration; require at least 15 early voting days, including weekends; allow any voter who wants to cast a ballot by mail to do so; and reform the nation’s campaign finance system by limiting the influence of wealthy donors, among other measures. Despite support from faith leaders like Ellsworth, an overwhelming majority of Americans, and nearly a thousand political scientists (including 28 from Arizona), Republicans filibustered the bill, at least temporarily ensuring its demise in the 50-50 Senate and giving their counterparts in state legislatures free reign to pass laws restricting voting access for millions of Americans.

[read more on The Copper Courier website]