ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Rock Island County NAACP President Bonnie Ballard received an award at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rock Island on MLK Day, Monday Jan. 17.
Ballard received the "I Have a Dream" Award for her dedication to civil rights over the course of her life.
She has always known her passion was civil rights.
"My role since I've been a little girl is for change," Ballard said.
The local branch of the NAACP pushing senators to now pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. The voting legislation passed in the House of Representatives last week. It's headed to the senate for debate now, after a previous version of the bill was shut down by Republican filibuster last November.
"It just bothers me in 2022 that we still try to keep people from voting," Ballard said.
The law is in response to stricter voting laws that have been passed in 19 states in the past year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. It includes places like here in Iowa, where changes were made to how absentee voting works and drop box availability.
If the bill passed, it would do a lot to change voting across the country. Some bigger changes include making election day a federal holiday, increasing access to early, online, and same day voter registration, and broadening what can be used as a form of ID.
In addition to that, it would require states with history of discriminatory voting laws in place to receive pre-clearance from the federal government before changing election laws.
"We are going to move forward. Whatever we need to do," Ballard said.
As of right now, senate Democrats do not have the 60 votes they need to get the legislation passed, unless filibusters rules are adjusted.