07.20.23

Cantwell Introduces Bill to Defend Voting Rights, Extend Vote-By-Mail & Same-Day Registration Nationwide

Freedom to Vote Act would expand voter-friendly WA policies, implement new election security measures, establish Election Day as a holiday, & ban partisan gerrymandering & anonymous big-dollar donations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined all 49 of her Democrat colleagues in reintroducing the Freedom to Vote Act. This legislation would help restore protections in the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was weakened by the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder.  That ruling paved the way for many states to pass harmful voter suppression laws. 

In 2013, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision gutted critical voter protections within the Voting Rights Act, crippling the federal government’s ability to prevent discriminatory changes to state voting laws and procedures. The Court issued its 5-4 ruling despite the fact that since the law was first enacted in 1965, Congress had repeatedly reauthorized its provisions by large bipartisan majorities and in the face of a legislative record which showed dramatic increases in minority political participation as a result of the law.  The last time the Senate considered reauthorizing and amending the Voting Rights Act, in 2006, it passed the measure by a vote of 98-0.  Moreover, each time Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act, the law was signed by a Republican president.  But in the wake of the Court’s ruling in Shelby County, states across the country have responded with strict voter ID laws and other voter suppression schemes that have systematically disenfranchised minority voters.

The Freedom to Vote Act aims to protect the right to vote and strengthen our democracy by:

  1. Making it easier to vote for all Americans, including establishing Election Day as a public holiday
  2. Better securing elections against voter fraud and cyberattacks
  3. Preventing partisan actors from subverting their own state’s election system
  4. Stopping big-money donors from anonymously influencing elections

Full background information on the bill is available HERE.

Sen. Cantwell is a long-time champion of improving voting access and election security to make sure every eligible American has the ability to vote. In July 2020, Sen. Cantwell joined a bipartisan group of colleagues in introducing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. In January 2021, Sen. Cantwell introduced the Vote At Home Act to expand vote-by-mail ballot access, providing voters with pre-paid ballot return envelopes, and enacting automatic voter registration. Sen. Cantwell spoke twice on the Senate floor for over an hour on January 18, 2022, imploring her colleagues to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

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