President Obama took aim at Republican efforts to
suppress the vote by calling their laws that make it more difficult to
cast a ballot a disgrace.
The President said:
The right to vote is one of the most fundamental
rights of any democracy. Yet for too long, too many of our fellow
citizens were denied that right, simply because of the color of their
skin.
Fifty years ago this week, President Lyndon Johnson
signed a law to change that. The Voting Rights Act broke down legal
barriers that stood between millions of African Americans and their
constitutional right to cast ballot. It was, and still is, one of the
greatest victories in our country’s struggle for civil rights.
But it didn’t happen overnight. Countless men and
women marched and organized, sat in and stood up, for our most basic
rights. For this they were called agitators and un-American, they were
jailed and beaten. Some were even killed. But in the end, they
reaffirmed the idea at the very heart of America: that people who love
this country can change it.
Our country is a better place because of all those
heroes did for us. But as one of those heroes, Congressman John Lewis,
reminded us in Selma this past March, “There’s still work to be done.”
Fifty years after the Voting Rights Act, there are still too many
barriers to vote, and too many people trying to erect new ones. We’ve
seen laws that roll back early voting, force people to jump through
hoops to cast a ballot, or lead to legitimate voters being improperly
purged from the rolls. Over the years, we have seen provisions
specifically designed to make it harder for some of our fellow citizens
to vote. In a democracy like ours, with a history like ours, that’s a
disgrace.
That’s why, as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of
the Voting Rights Act, I’m calling on Congress to pass new legislation
to make sure every American has equal access to the polls. It’s why I
support the organizers getting folks registered in their communities.
And it’s why, no matter what party you support, my message to every
American is simple: get out there and vote – not just every four years,
but every chance you get. Because your elected officials will only heed
your voice if you make your voice heard.
The promise that all of us are created
equal is written into our founding documents – but it’s up to us to make
that promise real. Together, let’s do what Americans have always done:
let’s keep marching forward, keep perfecting our union, and keep
building a better country for our kids.
President Obama hasn’t just talked the talk on
voting rights. He’s walked the walk. The Department of Justice has been
very aggressive in combating Republican efforts at the state level to
suppress the vote.
It was telling that there was a single mention of
voting rights during both of the Fox News debates. If you are a person
of color, poor, disabled, or live in an urban area, Republicans want to
make it more difficult for you to vote. It is also ironic that the a
political party which wraps itself in the rhetoric of liberty is so
comfortable violating the liberties of others. Democrats aren’t going to
allow Republicans to rig elections by making voting difficult for so
many Americans.
President
Obama has a historic legacy of accomplishment, but one of his efforts
that has been least discussed is how he has battled Republicans to
protect the right to vote.
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