Voting Rights
Voting rights are essential to who we are as Americans, to the cause of equality, and to the strength of our democracy. We must secure the most basic privilege of American citizenship: the right to vote. Congress plays an important role in removing obstacles to voting to ensure every citizen has the right to vote and every vote is counted as cast.
The Voting Rights Act is one of the great guardians of our democracy. Yet in June 2013, the Supreme Court decided to dismantle some of the most important protections of this critical law, opening the door to brazen efforts to disenfranchise American citizens with new barriers to the ballot box. The ruling invalidated the primary enforcement provision of the VRA, which had protected voters from racial discrimination for nearly 50 years.
colleagues and civil rights leaders to honor the 50th anniversary of the equal rights
marches from Selma to Montgomery that paved the way for the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
Congress must take the court's decision as our cue for further action to strengthen this legislation. Too many have given too much to defend and advance the right to vote in America, from the heroes of Selma and civil rights to the brave men and women who risk and give their lives for our freedom every day. Voting rights are vital to sustaining and strengthening our democracy – and ensuring that the voices of all Americans are heard.
More on Voting Rights
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which passed on a 228 – 187 vote. This bill restores the full strength of the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court’s Shelby v. Holder decision gutted the Act, unleashing a flood of voter suppression laws. Below are the Speaker’s remarks:
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616
Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,
202-226-7616