A Dozen Ways to (try and) Save American Democracy
- Michael Asch
- Feb 1, 2024
- 21 min read
Updated: Feb 3, 2024
The United States of America is facing unprecedented threats to our democracy. There’s mass incarceration and massive income and wealth inequality. A former president tried to prevent the peaceful transition of power. States keep making it unnecessarily harder for people to vote. And our economy is mostly controlled by the few wealthiest people and families, making the United States an oligarchy. All of these things and more can make it hard to feel optimistic about the state of American democracy. But just as we’ve done throughout American history, we can fight to protect and strengthen our democratic institutions. Here are a dozen ways to (try and) save American democracy:
1 - Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness:
Today, I’m mostly going to talk about voting, election, and government structural reforms. But the most important thing we can do as Americans is to give everyone the basic necessities they need to survive and opportunities for success. I’ll talk more about some of these issues in the future, but they’re still necessary to highlight here:
The United States needs to demilitarize, end mass incarceration, end slavery in prisons, and pass criminal justice reform. Our military’s global span and our colonial territories make the United States the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful empire in the history of the world. We spend more on our military than the next nine countries combined. We support brutal authoritarian regimes. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world. We force inmates into slavery to produce everything from the food on our tables to the license plates on our cars. Our prison populations are disproportionately black. Our food and clothes are produced off of foreign child-labor. The United States needs to stop the oppression.
We need to make sure everyone has access to housing, healthy food, clean water and air, a good education, good jobs, healthcare, transportation, security, etc. We need to increase our quality of life, not just for those at the top. The United States needs to close income and wealth inequalities. We need to make sure everyone has what they need to survive. We need to uplift people out of crippling poverty. We need to bring back the middle class. People need access to social mobility. We also need to tax the rich and break up the oligarchy and monopolies that run our economy. Americans have the right to economic competition. People need to be able to afford basic necessities. No one should be criminalized or die because they’re poor. And everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential.
We need to protect people from discrimination. We need to secure civil rights, women’s rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and religious freedom.
We also need to pass immigration reform. Our immigration system is completely broken. Since we started dealing with this crisis over four years ago, we haven’t made any meaningful changes to our archaic laws. It’s almost impossible for people to legally immigrate to the United States or seek asylum. Migrants spend years, if not over a decade, waiting in line for approval. Asylum seekers spend years waiting for a hearing. This has led to record numbers of border crossings. And in response, we’ve continued to make it harder for migrants to come to the U.S., we’ve criminalized immigration, and we’ve tortured and killed immigrants. Millions of poor families and people come to America under the promise of a better life. Many of these people are desperately trying to escape war, violence, and poverty. We need to live up to the promise inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The United States is the wealthiest and most powerful country in the history of the world. But people can’t afford to put a roof over their head, food on the table, medication they need to survive, or an education they need to gain opportunities for success. Everyone deserves a chance at the American Dream. That includes participating in our democracy. We should strive to truly be a city upon a hill, an example to the rest of the world, and a symbol for hope.
2 - Statehood for Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, Voting Congressional Representation for Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Other U.S. Territories:
Taxation without representation is tyranny. This was a rallying cry during the American Revolution and is supposed to be one of the cornerstones of American ideals. But almost 250 years after our independence, there are still over 4 million hardworking American taxpayers without voting representation in Congress. Puerto Rico has a larger population than 19 U.S. states and they only have one non-voting member of the House of Representatives, and they cannot vote for president. Washington D.C. has a larger population than Wyoming and Vermont, but they have no representation in Congress.
The main barriers to new states being added to the union usually stem from those in power not wanting to dilute their power. But Alaska and Hawaii both became states during my father’s lifetime, so it’s not impossible. (By the way, Puerto Rico has a larger population than both Alaska and Hawaii.)
Residents of Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories deserve the same democratic freedoms and right to self-determination as every other American.
3 - Independent Redistricting Commissions and Stricter Laws Against Gerrymandering:
For about as long as we’ve had legislative districts, we’ve had people trying to gerrymander those districts. Gerrymandering is when elected officials pick their voters instead of the voters picking their elected officials. Every 10 years, districts are redrawn by state legislatures due to changes in population. But sometimes, elected officials purposely draw maps for their own political benefit. They will pack and crack districts, politically and/or racially, to artificially skew elections for themselves and their political party.
Learn more about recent cases of gerrymandering in Alabama, North Carolina, and New York here.
One way to try and help prevent gerrymandering is by creating independent redistricting commissions to draw district maps instead of state legislatures.
Courts also need more power to combat gerrymandered maps. In 2019, the Supreme Court decision Rucho v. Common Cause ruled that federal courts cannot resolve questions regarding gerrymandered courts because they are “nonjudicial” and political in nature. This was a big blow to voting rights, because the best way to prevent gerrymandering is to take unfair maps to court. The federal government has the responsibility to ensure fair and free participation in our democratic elections.
4 - Abolish the Electoral College:
The American people do not vote for the President of the United States. The Electoral College does. Whoever wins a state’s popular vote generally gets the state’s electoral college votes. The number of votes is determined by their number of congressional districts plus two, because each state has two senators.
This means that a person’s vote can mean more than another person’s vote just because they live in a different state. In fact, residents of Wyoming’s votes for president are worth more than three times as much as residents of California’s votes. The Electoral College also causes candidates to try and win important swing states instead of individual voters. And why should someone from California feel incentivized to vote in the presidential election when they know their state is going to go to the Democratic candidate? Why should someone from Wyoming feel incentivized to vote if they know their state is going to go to the Republican? This drives down voter participation across the board.
This also means that a presidential candidate can win the election without the support of the majority of voters. In my young life, there have already been two elections where the winner of the popular vote did not win the electoral college or the presidency (2000 and 2016). The president of the United States is the most powerful person in the country and the world. The American people should pick our own president instead of leaving it to some archaic system. Abolish the electoral college and institute popular elections.
5 - Campaign Finance Reform:
Money in politics allows the few wealthiest people, families, and companies to have an unfair amount of influence over the democratic process. Money spent on donations, PACs, lobbying, and special interest influence politicians to prioritize the super-rich. This dilutes everyone else’s power and voice in our government. This is an oligarchical system, not a representative democracy.
Overturn Citizens United: The 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United decision essentially ruled that money = speech. More specifically, the Court said limits on independent political spending on federal elections violate the First Amendment right to free speech. This means that big companies and PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign advertising. This decision has led to the drastic increase in political spending by corporations, unions, non-profits, PACs super PACs, and other special interests.
Better donor disclosure: the Citizens United case, and others, also led to a massive increase in “dark money” spending on political campaigns. Dark money spending is undisclosed campaign spending where the source is a secret. These funds are nearly impossible to track. Requiring better donor disclosure would create more transparency in campaign donations. Campaigns for state and local positions should also be required to disclose their campaign donations.
Public campaign financing: if the government matched and multiplied small donations, then small donors' voices are amplified to help compete with large and wealthy donors. Most people do not have the disposable income to spend a lot of money on political campaigns. The amount of money someone has shouldn’t determine how much of a say they get in the democratic process.
Other reforms such as limits on lobbying, gift bans, and banning Congressional stock trading are also other ways we can keep money out of politics.
6 - Automatic Voter Registration:
It is too hard and too complicated for people to vote in the United States. This discourages people from voting. Making it easier for people to vote would increase voter turnout and democratic participation. So, more voices are heard, our government is more representative of the people they serve, and we would be a more democratic nation.
In most states, voting is a two step process: you have to register to vote before you can actually vote. But, enacting optional automatic voter registration at the DMV or another state agency would help eliminate this first step, making it a lot easier and a lot simpler for people to get registered so they can go vote. It’s also just common sense, considering the documents and IDs you present at the DMV are the same you use to register to vote.
24 states and the District of Columbia already have automatic voter registration. Here in Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro just enacted automatic voter registration in September 2023. Since then, voter registration is up almost 38% and it's basically even between Democrats and Republicans.
7 - Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act
John Lewis was a Civil Rights activist and a Congressman from Georgia who fought against segregation, Jim Crow, and systemic racism throughout his entire life. As a young man, he used nonviolence to peacefully protest alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma and at the March on Washington.
Two major pieces of legislation that passed because of the Civil Rights Movement are the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, or nationality. The Voting Rights Act helped secure voting rights for people of color and enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments by prohibiting denying or abridging someone’s right to vote based on race or color. It banned literacy tests, the grandfather clause, and implemented other policies used to prevent black people from voting.
Another key part of The Voting Rights Act was federal preclearance. This required certain states and localities to receive federal approval before making changes to their election laws and procedures. Any district that had a voting test in place as of November 1, 1964, and less than 50% turnout for the 1964 presidential election had to prove to the U.S. Attorney General or a three-judge panel of a Washington, D.C. district court that the change would not impact an individual’s right to vote based on race.
But, in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled this provision of the law unconstitutional in the case of Shelby County v. Holder, partially gutting the Voting Rights Act. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts argued that it’s unconstitutional because conditions have changed, the formula is outdated, and it now only places an unnecessary burden on voting districts. John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas both argued that the blatant racism these sections tried to prevent are no longer evident.
In her dissent, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote, "throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." She couldn’t have been more right, because as soon as this decision was made, states across the country began passing laws making it unnecessarily harder for people to vote, specifically targeting black people and other people of color.
Among other things, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act would reinstate and expand preclearance under a new formula. This would help restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that he, and so many others, fought so hard for.
In his final message to Americans, John Lewis published an op-ed in the New York Times after he passed away in 2020. In it, he says, “ordinary people with extraordinary lives can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed.”
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act passed the House of Representatives in November 2021, but failed to pass the filibuster in the Senate. We’ll talk more about the filibuster later.
8 - Ban Modern Methods of Voter Suppression:
After Shelby County v. Holder, a lot of states started trying to make it harder for people to vote, especially black people. Many of these laws are passed under the fake rationale of preventing voter fraud. But there is no massive voter fraud. In fact, voter fraud is extremely rare. The Brennan Center says it is more likely that an American will be struck by lightning than commit voter fraud. There are already checks and balances in place to detect and prevent voter fraud. Voter fraud does not impact our elections. But laws that make it harder for people to vote do.
States have the important job of keeping voter registration lists up to date. But some states take advantage of this process to disenfranchise people. Some examples are:
Exact match laws: under these laws, voter registrations are blocked unless the information perfectly matches the information on other forms of government identification. That means people’s voter registrations can be held up just because they made a simple mistake or a typo like forgetting to include a hyphen. In 2018, tens of thousands of Georgian’s voter registrations were blocked under an exact match law. These voters didn’t receive notice their registration was blocked. So, oftentimes, people would show up to the polls just to be surprised with the realization that they can’t vote. 70% of registrants blocked were Black. This helped sway the Gubernatorial election for Republican Brian Kemp. He was Georgia’s Secretary of State at the time, so he was in charge of enforcing this law.
Use it or lose it laws: under these laws, a voter registration can be purged if the individual hasn’t voted or updated their registration over a certain period of time. According to the American Bar Association, at least nine states have use it or lose it laws. Hundreds of thousands of voter registrations are purged under these laws every year. And, again, people don’t get notification, so they don’t realize they can’t vote until they go to the polls. So, they’re disenfranchised and have to register all over again for the next election.
No one should lose their right to vote just because they haven’t exercised that right in a bit or because they made a typo or a little mistake on a government form.
Many states have some sort of identification requirement for voters at the polls. But these requirements can be overly burdensome. Millions of Americans, especially Black Americans, do not have IDs.. Many Americans cannot afford the fees, transportation, or time it takes to get one. Voter ID laws only decrease voter turnout by making it unnecessarily difficult, if not impossible, for many lower income individuals, people with disabilities, and the elderly to vote.
Access to mail-in voting:
Millions of Americans vote safely and securely by mail every single year. Mail-in voting is used by Americans with disabilities, senior citizens, active members of the United States military, college students, people who do not have transportation to go to the polls, people who are in a different location on Election Day, etc. I voted by mail for four years when I was away at college. Instead of expanding mail-in voting, some states are attacking mail-in voting, making it harder for people to vote. For example, some states have shortened the period people can apply for a mail-in ballot or return a completed mail-in ballot. Some states have put broad restrictions on mail-in voting.
Democrats are a lot more likely to vote by mail than Republicans, so when Republicans limit mail-in voting they’re really just trying to make it harder for their political rivals to vote.
9 - Make it Easier to Vote:
We should make it easier for Americans to safely vote, instead of making voting harder and disenfranchising vulnerable communities.
Restore voting rights for felons:
Millions of Americans do not have the right to vote because they have a past criminal record. These laws are relics of Jim Crow. America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and that population is disproportionately black. Systemic racism criminalizes black people. And taking away the right to vote for felons just reinforces the system by disenfranchising the people who are most negatively impacted by it.
Open primaries:
Pennsylvania is among one of the many states with closed primaries. This means that people can only vote in the primary under the party they are registered with. The goal is to prevent members of other political parties from voting and trying to influence other political party's primaries. But this just totally disenfranchises independent voters by preventing them from voting in primary elections. This also helps polarize American politics by silencing those in the middle or unaffiliated. Pennsylvania and others should open their primaries so independent voters can have a say in our primary elections.
Extending voting deadlines:
Some states have reduced the timeframe that people have to register to vote, vote early, and/or to apply for a mail-in ballot. This doesn’t do anything to prevent fraud, it just makes it harder for people to vote. We need to extend deadlines to give people more time and make it easier to vote. We also need to implement same-day voter registration.
Make Election Day a federal holiday:
A lot of people can’t take the time out of their day to stand in line to vote on a random Tuesday. If Election Day was a federal holiday, a lot of people wouldn’t have to work on Election Day, which gives people a lot more time and flexibility to go to the polls. It would also cut down on the pre- and post-work rushes, so people don’t need to wait as long to vote.
People don’t have all day to stand around waiting in line to vote. Some areas have seen massive reductions in the number of polling locations and the resources allocated to them. This makes it a lot harder for people to vote. We need to open more polling locations, implement more voting machines, and hire more poll workers and volunteers.
Transportation:
We need more programs to provide transportation for people to go to the polls, especially for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and lower income individuals. Expanding and investing in public transportation would also make it easier for people to get to and from the polls.
The filibuster is a Senate rule (not a law) that says most legislation has to pass through the Senate with 60 votes, not just a simple majority (51 votes). This rule is supposed to reinforce bipartisanship. But really, it just makes it nearly impossible for Congress to do anything. The Senate is already the less-democratic chamber of the house, since it’s representative of the states, not the population. California has 67 times as many people as Wyoming, but they both have two senators. One easy way to make Congress more democratic, and make it easier to get important things done, is to eliminate the filibuster.
The filibuster also has a history of being used to block anti-lynching, civil rights, and voting rights legislation during the Jim Crow Era and, recently, against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
10 - Term Limits for Congress, Legislatures, Judges, and Justices:
To ensure the presidency does not become a dictatorship, George Washington set the precedent for presidents only serving two terms in office. Only one president ever successfully broke that precedent - Franklin D. Roosevelt. And in 1951, the 22nd Amendment ratified term limits for the president into the U.S. Constitution. Most governors also have term limits. However, Congress, Supreme Court justices, judges, most state legislatures, and some governors have no term limits. These public officials should also be subject to term limits to ensure a diverse array of voices are brought to the table and corrupt officials cannot stay in office forever. Maybe then our government will protect women’s rights and voting rights instead of rolling them back.
11 - Expand the House:
For most of American history, the size of the U.S. House of Representatives grew as the country’s population grew. But, since 1911, the House has only had 435 voting members. In 1929, a law was passed to cap the size of the house at its current membership. The argument for the cap was efficiency, financial, and physical. The rationale is that Congress would be even more dysfunctional with more members, there isn’t any more room on Capitol Hill for more members and staff, and we don’t have to pay for more space or pay more staff with a cap. But, other legislators in other countries have a lot more members and they function just fine (relatively). And we can afford to build more space and hire more staff to make our government more democratic.
About 100 years ago, each member represented about 200,000 people. Today, they each represent about 700,000 people. Since the Senate is based on the number of states, the House of Representatives is supposed to be the more democratic chamber of Congress and the chamber that is the most “representative” of the American people. But over the last 100 years, it’s gotten 3.5 times less representative, and it will only get worse unless we expand the House.
12 - Multiparty System and Ranked-Choice Voting:
The United States only has two major political parties for over 300 million people. These two parties could never be completely representative of the entire political spectrum of the American people. This also creates a political system with a vicious cycle of continuously increasing partisan divide for political gain. If the United States had more than two major political parties in our government, our government would be more representative of the people. And also, we’d be more inclined to work together and build coalitions to actually get stuff done.
When people think of elections, people usually think of 1v1 presidential general elections. But, most elections have multiple candidates, especially primary elections. In these elections, a lot of the time candidates can win without getting most people to vote for them. Just as a recent example, because Philadelphia is mostly Democratic, Cherelle Parker basically secured her position as mayor because she won 32.6% of the vote in the Democratic primary. Sometimes, these candidates and elected officials will feel like they don’t have to listen to the will of their electorate as a whole, only those who got them elected.
Instead of just picking one candidate, ranked choice voting allows voters to rank their top few candidates. The candidate with the lowest score in the race is dropped, and their votes go to the voter’s second choice. This continues until one candidate wins with a majority of the votes. Under this system, candidates have to try and attract a broader range of their constituency, meaning the government would be more representative of the people.
Extra Bonus Number 13: DO NOT Vote for Donald Trump (or any election denier, or any fascists ever):
Former President Donald Trump is the single greatest internal threat to American democracy since the Civil War. He lies to create distrust in our democratic systems and stoke political violence for his own personal benefit. If he is elected president again, there is a very real possibility that checks and balances fail, American democracy is destroyed, and Trump becomes the first dictator in United States history. Here are some of the reasons why Trump is an authoritarian, a fascist, and a threat to democracy:
He praises brutal dictators like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un while insulting our friends and weakening our global alliances.
He attacks the free press by labeling any negative coverage of him as fake news and calling mainstream media “the enemy of the people.”
He defended and praised violent neo-Nazis that marched on Charlottesville, chanted, "Jews will not replace us", and killed a counter protestor by driving a car through the crowd.
He bribed Ukrainian President Vlodimir Zelensky with military aid to get dirt on Biden when they were running against each other for president. Ukraine was invaded by Russia just a couple years later. They’re still fighting for survival today, with virtually no end to the war in sight.
He lied about massive voter fraud in 2016 and 2020 and undermined faith in our democratic institutions.
He used these lies about massive voter fraud to try and overturn the 2020 presidential election, prevent the peaceful transfer of power, and overthrow American democracy. He pressured local officials, state officials, and the United States Justice Department to overturn the election. And when that didn’t work, he caused a violent mob to storm the Capitol while they were certifying the election on January 6, 2021, forcefully trying to stop the American democratic process. Members of Congress and the Vice President fled for their lives. Hundreds of police officers and American citizens were injured. People died.
He is facing criminal charges in four different cases. He is the first former president to face criminal charges. He was charged in Georgia’s election interference case, the U.S. Department of Justice’s January 6th case, the New York State falsifying business records case, and federal prosecutor’s classified documents case. Hypothetically, he could be elected president from jail and try to pardon himself.
He was also found liable for battery and defamation in the New York State hush money E. Jean Carroll rape case. The court agreed that he sexually assaulted her and defamed her when he publicly denied it and attacked her. He is a rapist.
He was also charged with storing dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and obstructing justice. There’s even recordings of him showing off documents he knows are classified, including documents detailing hypothetical plans for invading Iran.
He calls any attempt to hold him accountable a politically motivated witch hunt, undermining public trust in the justice system for his own personal benefit. He attacks judges and prosecutors. Many of them receive threats because of his lies. A judge recommended jurors never disclose that they were jurors in the E. Jean Carroll case.
He spread conspiracies and joked about former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi being beaten with a hammer and hospitalized in a politically motivated attack. The assailant was looking for the former Speaker.
His lawyers argued in court that a president can’t be convicted for ordering Seal Team 6 to assassinate their political rival unless they’re first impeached by Congress. So, basically, they argued a president can get away with any crime unless some politicians decide to impeach him first. A president that can do whatever they want with no consequences or repercussions is not a president - that’s a dictator.
His lawyers “promise(d)” the United States Supreme Court that allowing states to bar him from the ballot under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment would “unleash chaos and bedlam”. Part of the 14th Amendment bars people who committed insurrection from holding office. So far, Trump has been barred from appearing on the ballot in Colorado and Maine under this insurrection clause. The Supreme Court is going to rule on the constitutionality of these bans.
He consistently uses authoritarian and fascist language. For example, when he says immigrants “are poisoning the blood of our country” or describes his political opponents as “vermin”, he is using the same language Hitler used to describe Jews during the Holocaust. Also, calling for “law and order” regarding immigration and the Black Lives Matter protests is classic authoritarian language. And racist.
He said Gen. Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (highest ranking military officer) deserves to be executed because he didn’t support Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump said he’s going to be a dictator. And he’s doubled down on it. More specifically, he said he won’t be a dictator “except for Day 1” to “close the border and drill, drill, drill.” He promised to end American democracy so we can terrorize immigrants and speed up climate change. And the crowd burst into applause.
Our democracy only survived Trump’s attacks on the 2020 election because of brave Americans who upheld their oaths of office at every level - from poll workers up to the vice president. If there were more officials committed to overturning the election, they might have succeeded. Electing election deniers only increases the chances of another attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power being successful. And electing fascists is never good for democracy.
Senator Padme Amidala - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
The United States of America has never fully lived up to the ideals of democracy, liberty, and equality that it was founded on. The Declaration of Independence says we are all endowed with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But we’ve never fully kept this promise. At the time, democratic freedoms were only granted for white male wealthy protestant landowners. And we’ve faced many threats to our democracy throughout our history, including a Civil War over slavery. But, in spite of major resistance and massive setbacks, slowly but surely, generally overtime we’ve expanded our democracy and our freedoms.
Some of the big examples: After the Civil War, the United States ratified the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution which banned slavery and gave black men the right to vote. For most of American history, U.S. Senators were chosen by state legislatures. But, in 1913, the 17th Amendment required the direct election of U.S. Senators by the people. About 100 years ago, the Women's Suffrage Movement led to the passing of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. In 1951, the 22nd Amendment ratified term limits for the President. In 1964, the 24th Amendment eliminated the poll tax. And the Civil Rights Movement led to the end of legal racial segregation.
I had the privilege of speaking with a constituent through my job who grew up in segregated Richmond, Virginia. She told me the first time she ever voted, she had to pay a poll tax. We've come a far way since then. But this stuff is not in the distant past. The threats facing our democracy today are very real and very dangerous.
But we’ve seen first-hand how hard people fought for these rights. And we've seen first-hand that progress is possible. We can’t take democracy, freedom, and self-determination for granted. No matter your political beliefs, it is in all of our best interest to protect our right to vote and govern ourselves. We have the right to decide our own fate instead of suffering at the whims of a tyrant. The freedom of hundreds of millions of people is at stake. The fate of the world’s greatest democracy is at stake. We must always work to strengthen our democratic institutions and fight authoritarianism. Our government must remain of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Comments