A “small but mighty” band of activists waved signs, honked horns and traveled down Vashon Hwy. on Saturday morning in support of a national campaign called the John Lewis Voter Advancement Day Votercade/Motorcade/Bicycle Ride.

On Vashon, the group included about 10 cyclists and eight cars. At least two of the participants came from West Seattle, telling an islander that they had decided to join the Vashon group because they felt it would be more positive and embracing.

The national campaign is part of a citizen’s movement to support the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These bills, now before Congress, expand the ease of accessibility of voting nationwide and would curb a wave of voter suppression bills being passed and considered in many state legislatures in the wake of the last presidential election.

Specifically, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore the protections of the original, bipartisan Voting Rights Act of 1965, championed by Rep. John Lewis. The Act was last reauthorized by Congress in 2006, but gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. Since then, partisan state legislatures have chipped away the right to vote with restrictions including strict voter ID, the elimination of polling places, diminishment of early and mail-in voting and even purges of eligible voters from voter rolls.

For more information about the organization that supported the John Lewis Voter Advancement Day, visit votingrightsalliance.org.

— Elizabeth Shepherd