WASHINGTON — Today, Robert Brandon, President & CEO of Fair Elections Center, issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate failed to advance debate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act:
“Today’s vote shows once again that our country will not secure the voting rights protections we need until the Senate eliminates the filibuster and allows federal legislation to proceed unhindered by an unrepresentative minority of lawmakers.
“The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores and strengthens essential voting protections against discrimination enshrined in the Voting Rights Act, which until recently was supported on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis for decades. Bolstering the federal government’s ability to review and block discriminatory voting restrictions at the state and local level before they taint our elections is especially critical given the wave of more than 400 anti-voting bills pushed by state legislators this year. These voting restrictions fall the hardest on people of color, people with disabilities, naturalized citizens, and others who have historically faced barriers to making their voices heard at the polls.
“The pro-democracy majority in the Senate cannot allow an unrepresentative Senate minority or state politicians to continue chipping away at Americans’ sacred right to vote. Ending the filibuster is the clear, essential path forward for passing much-needed federal voting protections this year.”
