I wouldn’t have been able to vote in 1916.

Friends, we need to talk about voting rights.

Attempts to suppress voters have existed for as long as the right to vote has existed. I wouldn’t have been able to vote during our country’s first elections in the 1700s. And I wouldn’t have been able to vote 150 years later in 1916, either. Would you?

Thankfully much has changed. And not by itself. Leaders, civil rights activists and everyday Americans from all walks of life fought for generations to secure everyone’s right to vote – no matter your gender, race or background. Voting rights have come so far in our nation, but politicians today are actively working to send us back.

Purging voter rolls.

Severely restricting mail-in voting.

Redrawing maps to suit the president’s demands.

Extreme voter suppression laws that require documents most people don’t have.

Spreading lies, chaos and paranoia with falsehoods about election fraud.

Sounds draconian, right? Even more so when you realize these are all tactics that have either been attempted, threatened or already happened this year – in relation to the 2026 midterm elections.

Let’s not pretend for a second this is about election security.

It’s voter suppression, plain and simple.

MAGA Republicans – led by Donald Trump – know Americans are tired of the empty, broken promises and failures of this administration.

But rather than doing anything to actually help working people, Donald Trump and his MAGA allies have decided to blatantly attempt to make it harder for us to hold them accountable.

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Here’s just one example: The SAVE America Act, which Donald Trump is pushing Senate Republicans to pass, would require states like Nevada to turn over sensitive voter data to Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. Then, he and his allies get to decide who they want states to remove from the voter rolls.

If you are removed from the voter rolls, you may not find out until Election Day when you’re in line to vote.

If you try to reregister, you will need to meet the onerous new documentation requirements – even a Nevada REAL ID won’t be enough.

It will be particularly difficult if you changed your name at any point in your life for any reason, including getting married, because it will not match your birth certificate.

And to present all those documents to an election official you might have to drive for hours back and forth, especially if you live in rural Nevada.

All of those barriers add up. And that’s what Trump and his cronies are counting on. They’re creating chaos and confusion in the hopes that fewer people will turn out to vote. We can’t let them win.

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At the same time, Trump has claimed he wants to end mail-in voting altogether, which 47% of Nevadans and nearly 1 in 3 Americans used to vote in the 2024 elections. Trump himself voted by mail this August!

Back in March, Donald Trump signed an executive order that would give his administration unilateral power over who is allowed to vote by mail. It’s utterly unconstitutional, which is why Nevada and over two dozen other states sued to prevent it from going into effect.

But as this issue makes its way through the courts – which have blocked the plan from going into effect before the midterms – the United States Postal Service has been trying to quietly make plans to put Trump’s order into action.

Mail ballots have already been sent out by some states. Any changes to election policy this close to Election Day will only make it harder to vote.

That’s why I’ve called for the Supreme Court to respect the separation of powers outlined in our Constitution and strike down President Trump’s illegal order. We simply cannot allow the president to disenfranchise millions of Americans.

Let me be clear. These attempts to block our right to vote by mail have not succeeded. Voters can still use mail-in ballots as they always have. But we can’t let our guard down. I’m going to keep fighting to make sure the Trump administration’s attacks continue to fail.

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So, what now? You’re already on the right track, reading posts like this and learning about what’s at stake. Continue to stay informed. Check your own registration and make a plan to vote with iwillvote.com. Then, encourage your friends, family and neighbors to do the same.

This fight will not be won in a day, but the first step is to overcome these extreme voter suppression attempts, turn out in droves and win the midterms.

Once we have regained control of the Senate, we must pass legislation that protects our fundamental right to vote – for every American.

As long as we continue to fight together, I have faith that our democracy will prevail. Thanks for reading, fighting and voting.

¡La lucha sigue! The fight continues!

Catherine

A personal note from Catherine Cortez Masto:

I am the product of my parents’ American dream: the granddaughter of Mexican and Italian immigrants, the first generation in my family to graduate college, the first woman elected senator in Nevada and first Latina senator in the entire country.

I have always believed that if you’re willing to work hard and play by the rules, you should have every opportunity to succeed.

But that’s gotten harder and harder. Thanks to Donald Trump and the GOP majorities in Congress, we are paying more for less. Critical programs our families rely on, like Medicare and Social Security, are at risk. Our fundamental rights are under attack and so are many of our communities.

I’m not giving up. I never will, and I hope you won’t either. This fall, we have a chance to win a Senate majority for Democrats and finally gain the power to block Donald Trump’s harmful agenda. I know we can do it, but I also know it’ll take ALL of us working together.

So please, if you’re with me, will you chip in now to help flip the Senate?

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