A Reminder That People Have Been Beaten And Killed So You Can Vote

Need a compelling reminder that you should exercise your right to vote? Let Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) tell you.

The civil rights organizer was a driving force behind voter registration efforts in the South in the early 1960s, a dangerous act at the time. In 1965, Lewis led a group of 600 nonviolent protesters across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama; state troopers responded by beating him in the head with a night stick.

Lewis recalled that harrowing experience ― and many others like it ― in a tweet on Monday, urging his followers to “vote like you’ve never voted before.”

Lewis’ passion for voting rights hasn’t wavered since he entered Congress, where he’s called voting an “almost sacred” act and “the most powerful, non-violent tool we have in a democratic society.”

For more on how to register to vote, research candidates, confirm your registration, get an absentee ballot and more, visit USA.gov’s voting and elections page here.