August 28 Event Seeks To Advocate For Ballot Access For All
A special voter mobilization event on the anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom is scheduled to be held in Sacramento next week.
The California March On for Voting Rights will be hosted in downtown Sacramento while other marches are being held nationwide. Local marchers will go from Crocker Park to the steps of the California State Capitol, where speakers and musical artists will perform. The event will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, August 28.
Organizers say they are demanding that legislatures across the country end their push for restrictive voting laws and that Congress pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act, which will ensure free, fair access to the ballot for every American voter.
Jamilia Land, Executive Board Member of March On, and the group of California organizers she’s partnered with said they are focused on making sure the right to vote is accessible and exercised by all, particularly those who have been in the criminal justice system.
“In November 2020, Prop. 17 was approved, which restored voting rights to people on parole upon leaving prison. This enfranchised nearly 50,000 people on parole to become registered voters,” Ms. Land said. “This is key in our current legislative pursuits around the country to not only stop voter suppression and empower the people most directly impacted, but to send a message to the powers that be who want to kill the fundamental right of voting for the American people that we, collectively, will not stand by and watch our rights be stolen.”
To RSVP to the California March On for Voting Rights, visit www.tinyurl.com/californiamarch.