ACLU: Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Historic Speech on Voting Rights
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reminded Americans tonight of the importance of the right to vote in a thriving democracy.
In a speech from the LBJ Library, Holder discussed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and how voter suppression laws in states across the country are posing a new challenge to all Americans’ access to the ballot.
“Prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, African Americans seeking their right to vote faced violence at the polls,” said Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU senior legislative counsel. “Today’s state efforts to suppress the vote may be more subtle than in 1965, but the result is the same: pushing certain groups of people out of the electorate. Today, Attorney General Eric Holder gave a historic address on voting rights and reiterated the Department of Justice’s commitment to protecting access to the ballot so that all Americans have the right to participate in our democracy.”
The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit today charging that Wisconsin’s voter ID law is unconstitutional and will deprive citizens of their basic right to vote.
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The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.
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Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and the fundamental right upon which all our civil liberties rest. The ACLU works to protect and expand Americansʼ freedom to vote.