Washington, D.C — Today the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) announced a half-million dollar investment in pro-democracy advocacy efforts across 17 state affiliates in the Conservation Voter Movement (CVM) to advance state and local policies to protect and promote a more equitable and just democracy and fight anti-democracy legislation where necessary. This initial investment marks a substantial step in LCV’s increased focus to strengthen democracy policies at the state and local level, such as protecting voting rights in historically excluded communities.

“In state legislatures across the country, the League of Conservation Voters and our state partners are fighting to pass laws to strengthen our democracy and defend against targeted attacks on voter rights,” said Amanda Gnaedinger, LCV State Democracy Policy Director. “Election deniers and supporters of the Big Lie are continuing to undermine the will of voters across the nation — even if it means changing state constitutions, redrawing district lines, or suppressing voters to do it. LCV is proud to ramp up our fight for a more fair and equitable democracy at the state and local level so that every community has the power to fully exercise their rights, especially communities that face the greatest barriers to voting and are on the frontlines of environmental injustice.”

LCV state partners across the nation will work to advance major legislation to strengthen our democracy, including expanding automatic voter registration and vote-by-mail, restoration of voting rights, ranked choice voting, and more. In addition, state partners in 11 states will fight Republicans’ relentless attempts to restrict access to voting and dilute constituents’ power to provide a check on their elected officials, such as proposals to limit the ability for voters to pass ballot initiatives in Arizona, Idaho, and Ohio.

LCV’s funds for our state partners include initiatives to:

• Implement equitable expanded voting access in Michigan established through last year’s passage of Proposal 2;
• Defend against anti-democracy legislation that would suppress voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania;
• Protect voting rights of Native voters under threat in Montana;
• Fight attacks on ballot initiatives in Arizona, Idaho, and Ohio;
• Combat attempts for more restrictive voter ID laws in Idaho and Nebraska;
• Keep ranked choice voting in Alaska.

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