Alabama Arise condemns insurrection, demands protection and expansion of voting rights

Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Friday on this week’s events in Washington, D.C.:

“The assault on the U.S. Capitol this week was a violent and racist attack on the very idea of democracy. It was an effort by white nationalists and other extremists to reject the results of a free and fair election and to tear the fabric of our shared freedoms. Alabama Arise condemns this disgraceful, reprehensible insurrection in the strongest possible terms.

“The peaceful transfer of power is essential to the continuation of our representative democracy. Everyone’s freedoms are jeopardized when lawmakers attempt to disregard the results of free and fair elections or when mobs attempt to overrule those elections by force.

“Arise denounces incitements to violence and insurrection by elected leaders and political extremists. We also denounce the white supremacist ideologies that fuel attempts to reject legitimate votes from people of color.

“Alabama has a painful history of overturning legitimate election results by disregarding the will of Black voters. Similar strategies were used to ratify our racist 1901 state constitution, which disenfranchised Black voters and explicitly aimed to establish white supremacy under the law.

“Our ability to progress as a state and a nation will be limited as long as any person or group is unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote. We call upon all of our elected officials to acknowledge and affirm the 2020 election results. And we demand that everyone involved in carrying out or inciting Wednesday’s insurrection be held accountable for their actions.

Steps toward a better, more inclusive future

“Arise applauds the grassroots organizers and elected leaders who have worked for years to expand access to free and fair elections. In recent months, we have witnessed amazing levels of mobilization and grassroots engagement to ensure that all eligible voters can participate in deciding their political future. The fact that nearly 160 million Americans voted despite a pandemic, a crushing recession and rampant voter suppression efforts is a testament to these organizers' work.

“Ensuring that every eligible voter can access the ballot must be a top priority to protect our democratic republic. We call upon Congress to strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and provide protections from further attempts to suppress votes. And we urge Alabama lawmakers to protect and expand voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration and lifting barriers to voting rights restoration.”