By Dennis Parker, Director, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 8:49am
Today voters are going to the polls in South Carolina to exercise their most fundamental democratic right: the right to vote. This week we celebrated the life and work of Martin Luther King, and in doing so we recall his championing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recognizing the pitifully low number of blacks who were eligible to vote at that time, Dr. King believed that until all African Americans were able to participate in the electoral process, there could be no real justice in this country.
Today’s excellent New York Times editorial rightfully praises Attorney General Eric Holder’s efforts this week to highlight the sanctity of the right to vote in America. In his speech from the Lyndon Baines Johnson presidential library in Austin, Texas, the attorney general said, “The right to vote is not only the cornerstone of our system of government — it is the lifeblood of our democracy. And no force has proved more powerful — or more integral to the success of the great American experiment — than efforts to expand the franchise.”
Voter suppression tactics of the past, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, have given way to voter ID laws and elimination of same-day voter registration.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives held a forum on Monday to shine a light on recent regressive voting laws throughout the country.
Laura W. Murphy, director of ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, reminded the panel that for decades, African-Americans who wanted to exercise their right to vote were beaten, chased by dogs, bludgeoned by police, and sometimes killed. Congress’ historic role in passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 stopped this type of violence and mistreatment, but still, the threat to our fundamental right to vote lives on today and the need for congressional action remains.
Sixty percent of Mainers overwhelmingly endorsed Election Day Registration today. Voters in small towns and large in every county in the state cast a vote of confidence in the security and integrity of our election systems. Maine has enjoyed Election Day Registration for almost forty years since it was first passed in 1973 by a Republican-controlled legislature. Election Day Registration, or "Same Day Registration" as it is often called locally, allows hard-working people, some working two or three jobs, to register and vote on Election Day. It has led to Maine being first in the nation in voter participation in 2010.
Ninety-one years ago today, then-Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed a proclamation formally adopting the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. After over 70 years of fighting, women were finally guaranteed the right to vote. The product of this effort, this vast expansion of the right to vote, was cause for celebration for everyone in this country.
By Dennis Parker, Director, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 2:07pm
Like many Americans who watched President Obama's State of the Union address, I was moved by Desiline Victor, the 102 year-old African American woman who was forced to endure a six hour wait in order to vote in the 2012 presidential election. It is outrageous that anyone, let alone a woman of her age, should be subject to such a trial in order to exercise her most fundamental right as an American. Her determination and tenacity to cast her ballot was inspiring.
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an important hearing entitled, The State of the Right to Vote After the 2012 Election. The timing is ripe for the committee to consider the state of our most fundamental right as citizens. Just six weeks ago, Americans went to the polls in large numbers to elect a president in spite of massive hurdles that interfered with their most fundamental right.
You’d have to be living under a rock not to know that there is a presidential election going on. And you’ve probably seen countless TV ads from members of Congress asking for your votes. But did you know that in 46 states, state legislators are on the ballot, too? And in 23 states, the entire legislature – every single seat in the state legislature – is up for election.
In a victory for Pennsylvania voters, a state judge today halted the enforcement of the state’s voter ID law, which threatened to disenfranchise thousands of elderly residents, students, the homeless and communities of color this November.
Judge Robert Simpson Jr. ruled that he was “not convinced” that the requirement to show photo ID at polling stations would not lead to voter disenfranchisement, as the state had argued.
