The following statement was released by the Brennan Center for Justice:
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law applauds recent and ongoing efforts by Rep. Steny Hoyer and other members of Congress to help put an end to the unprecedented assault on voting rights in states across the country.
This year, numerous state governments have made it harder for American citizens to register and vote, reversing a century-long trend of expanding the franchise and knocking down barriers to full electoral participation. As we pointed out in Voting Law Changes in 2012, a report released last month, new voting restrictions recently imposed around the country will make it significantly harder for millions of American citizens to vote—at a time when the United States continues to turn out less than two thirds of its eligible citizens in presidential elections and less than half in the midterm elections. The restrictions fall most heavily on minority, elderly, low-income, student, and disabled voters.
The Brennan Center is pleased that so many members of Congress are working to raise public awareness of this assault on voting rights; to reach out to relevant stakeholders from both sides of the aisle, at all levels of government, to try to remove new and unnecessary barriers to the franchise; and to help ensure that every eligible American citizen can participate in our democracy. These members are fulfilling Congress’s obligation to preserve our most basic rights and to protect the rights of all Americans, including those most vulnerable among us.
We strongly urge leaders of all political parties — in Congress and in the states — to work together to protect the voting rights of all Americans, just as was done with the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act.
For further information, please contact Andrew Goldston, andrew.goldston [at] nyu.edu, 646.292.8372.