Press statement from Robert Brandon, President and CEO of Fair Elections Center
Today, we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the1964 Civil Rights Act, which was one of the first major mechanisms for enforcing the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and taking on a racist and authoritarian Jim Crow regime. While we are far from achieving the goal of full equality, the Act’s legacy lives on as one legal accountability mechanism against racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination.
Fair Elections Center has also been able to use the Civil Rights Act as a tool to protect voting rights. Regardless of party or candidate, when any person who wishes to cast their vote is blocked from doing so, our democracy suffers. Fair Elections Center has successfully used the Civil Rights Act to strike down a discriminatory law in Arizona and rescue valid mail-in ballots in Wisconsin.
The Civil Rights Act is imperfect and outdated: using it to fight historically high numbers of voter suppression bills is like using a medieval shield against a machine gun. However, on today’s anniversary, we are thankful to have this landmark law in the continued fight to end voting discrimination and create a just and equal society.
