Restore the Vote

Floor Speech

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Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today is both Restoration Tuesday, and the New Hampshire Primary, our nation's first primary of the election season. As Americans head to the polls today, let us all be reminded that today will be the first presidential primary in the past 50 years where Americans will not be afforded the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

New Hampshire is one of 16 states with new voting restrictions that have been implemented since the Supreme Court gutted Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Unfortunately for voters in New Hampshire, a new voter-ID law will be in full effect for the first time today.

New Hampshire's voter ID law is designed to require those without a photo ID to sign an affidavit and have their picture taken, a motif clearly designed to intimidate and imply suspicion of criminality. The authors and proponents of the law have yet to make the case for the need or intended use of the photos. In addition to intimidation, the law will undoubtedly lead to longer lines at the polls, further inhibiting access for those who have to return to work.

Congress has had two years to answer the Supreme Court's call to develop a modem day formula for preclearance under the Voting Rights Act, and therefore prevent such dangerous laws from being implemented. But here we are, on the day of the New Hampshire Primary, and nothing has been done to restore the vote. Election season has commenced, and Americans cannot wait any longer.

Thousands of our constituents will face new barriers to voting throughout this election cycle. From African American communities in my home state of Alabama, to Native American communities in Alaska, Asian American communities in California and Latino communities in Texas, thousands of minority communities across America will be met with modern-day barriers to the ballot box due to our inaction. Any attempt to restrict a certain portion of our electorate is a threat to our democracy, whether that is through voter ID laws, the closure of driver's license offices, or the scaling back of early voting.

While these don't appear to be as egregious as literacy tests and poll taxes, they represent modern-day attempts to achieve the same goal--to restrict the voice of a portion of the electorate.

I respect the differing opinions of my colleagues on issues of economic, energy, education, and foreign policy. However, I cannot comprehend how we can disagree on something as American as protecting the right to vote. Voting Rights is not a partisan issue. It is a pillar of our democracy.

As the primary season begins, I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor the Voting Rights Advancement Act and join me and many others in urging Speaker Ryan to bring this bill to the floor for a vote.

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