Hillary Clinton statement on the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

On the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Hillary Clinton released the following statement on the need for additional reforms to expand voting, while criticizing Republican efforts to restrict the right to vote.

“Fifty years ago, on August 6, 1965, after struggle and sacrifice, America took a big step forward toward our goal of a more perfect union with the signing of the Voting Rights Act.  Two years ago, when the Supreme Court ripped out the heart of that law, we took a big step backwards.  Since then, many of the states that previously faced special scrutiny because of a history of racial discrimination have proposed or enacted new laws to make it harder to vote.  Today, as we mark this fiftieth anniversary, we have a choice to make: either we come together to repair the Voting Rights Act and renew the promise of our democracy, or we let even more of the progress we’ve made slip away.

“Congress should immediately pass legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act to ensure the full protections that American voters need and deserve.  And we all need to do our part to fight back against efforts across our country to disempower and disenfranchise young people, people of color, poor people, and people with disabilities.

“As President, I would work to adopt additional reforms to make it easier, not harder, for every citizen to vote.   We should set a standard across our country of at least 20 days of early in-person voting everywhere – including opportunities for weekend and evening voting.   I also support universal, automatic voter registration.  Every citizen in every state in the union should be automatically registered to vote when they turn eighteen – unless they actively choose to opt-out.

“By contrast, most Republican candidates for President would put up new obstacles to voting.  That’s wrong and it’s counter to American values.  They should stop fear mongering about a phantom epidemic of election fraud and start explaining why they’re so scared of letting citizens have their say.  What part of democracy are they afraid of?”