WASHINGTON — Today, Robert Brandon, President & CEO of Fair Elections Center, a leading national, nonpartisan voting rights and election reform organization, issued the following statement after the Freedom to Vote Act was blocked in the U.S. Senate by a filibuster:
“We cannot wait any longer to pass legislation that will protect the fundamental voting rights of millions of Americans. The Freedom to Vote Act is necessary to defend the right to vote of people of color, people with disabilities, young people and low-income people, and Congress needs to do everything in their power to act now so that every citizen can be heard in our democracy no matter what they look like or where they come from.
“This bill will make strides in protecting the voting access of these communities. The federal, baseline standards it provides for early voting, voting by mail, and same-day registration are crucial for all Americans to participate fully in the democratic process. It will also improve election administration and protect voters from unfair and inaccurate voter purges that prevent Americans from having their voices heard.
“If Congress can’t pass this bill with the filibuster in place, then our U.S. Senators need to circumvent the filibuster. We can’t continue to allow the voting rights of millions to be stripped away by a minority group of elected officials who are failing to properly represent the vast majority of the American people. The need to pass the Freedom to Vote Act is urgent, and we need to act with the urgency it deserves to fight back against blatant discrimination in our elections.”
