Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
drew big applause from the crowd at the National Association of Latino
Elected and Appointed Officials Conference when called out Republicans
by saying that only cowards would get elected than pass laws to suppress
the vote.
In his speech,
Sanders directly called out Republican efforts to suppress the Latino
vote, “In addition to immigration reform, we must also pursue policies
that empower minority communities. This must start with energizing
Latinos all across the country to engage in the democratic process and
by thwarting efforts to disenfranchise minority voters. Restricting
access through draconian voter ID laws and shortening early voting
periods are thinly-veiled efforts to marginalize communities of color,
low income people and seniors. These policies must be combatted at both
the state and federal levels.”
He also repeated his support for legal status and a
path to citizenship, “The bottom line of all of this is that It is time
to bring our neighbors out of the shadows. It is time to give them legal
status. It is time to create a reasonable and responsible path to
citizenship.”
Bernie Sanders hit on something that many opponents
of voter suppression don’t talk about often enough. The act of passing
laws that are designed to prevent targeted groups of people from voting
is cowardly.
Republicans can win a fair contest based on ideas,
so they try to rig the game by reducing the size and shaping the
composition of the electorate. Republicans violate the very democratic
principles that the country was built on when they engage in voter
suppression.
Voter suppression is a moral issue, and the
Republican support for suppressing the vote demonstrates a party wide
lack of character.
Bernie
Sanders said what many others didn’t. Republicans are cowards who are
stealing the votes of millions of Americans. The best way for the
Republican efforts to steal the vote is for an outraged and informed
electorate to come together and fight back.
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