Today's guest hosts are Edwith Theogene and Charlotte Hancock, Organizing Director and Communications Director for Generation Progress.

They discuss how voting rights protections are desperately needed to protect the integrity of our democracy. The situation continues to get more and more precarious—according to data from the Brennan Center at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting in 2021, and even more bills are waiting in the wings: more than 440 bills with provisions that restrict voting access were introduced in 49 states in the 2021 legislative sessions.

Meanwhile, Congress has struggled to pass desperately needed federal voting rights protections over the past year. Thankfully, Senator Schumer and President Biden have indicated repeatedly that voting rights protections are a main priority for them, and the Senate has dedicated much of its attention in 2022 thus far to passing the Freedom to Vote Act. With a self-imposed deadline of Monday, January 17th—Martin Luther King Day—activists and organizers across the country are calling on the Senate to get the job done now.

To talk more about the Freedom to Vote Act, actions being taken in the lead up to MLK Day, and how voting rights reform could impact the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, they’re joined by two expert guests.

The guests are Catherine Rowland, the legislative affairs director at the Progressive Caucus Action Fund and Jamal Holtz, the lead organizer for the 51 for 51 Statehood Campaign.

Generation Progress' website is GenProgress.org and their Twitter handle is @GenProgress. Edwith Theogene's Twitter handle is @WhoIsEdwith and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne. The Twitter handle for the Progressive Caucus Action Fund is @WeAct4progress. The Twitter handle for Jamal Holtz is @JamalHoltz and the handle for the '51 for 51 Statehood Campaign' is @51for51.

(Image Credit: Nicole Craine for The New York Times)