MONROE — Chapters of the League of Women Voters held marches throughout the United States on Saturday, Aug. 28, to raise awareness of the importance of passing voting rights bills that are before Congress. At the same time, some Monroe area residents conducted their own march around the courthouse square to gather signatures on two petitions in support of the voting rights bills. 

The first petition was to demand passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 and the Voting Rights Bills known as H.R.1 and S-1, the “For the People Act of 2021”, to expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, to reduce the influence of big money in politics, to strengthen ethics rules for public servants, to implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying democracy, and for other purposes. 

The second petition was to support such changes as are necessary in the Senate’s filibuster rules for the purpose of enabling the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 and the “For the People Act of 2021” using a simple majority vote of 51 Senators. 

Green County marchers obtained petition signatures in New Glarus on Aug. 27, and hope to obtain more signatures near Veterans’ Park in Brodhead at noon on Sept. 5. After the Sept. 5 petition drive, scanned copies of the petitions will be forwarded to Wisconsin’s two U.S. Senators, Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson, to Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, and to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 

Any American citizen, 18 years of age or older, no matter which political party they support, is welcome to stop by in Brodhead on Sept. 5 to sign these petitions. For more information, call Barb Woodriff at 608-312-9789. 

“Voter registration, and the act of voting, by eligible American citizens, should be made easier, not more difficult,” Woodriff said.