HR 1. Will Help Strengthen The Fight Against Voter Suppression

Repairing the breaks in our democracy is the most appropriate place for a new Congress to turn attention. Recent elections in our country make clear that voter suppression is rampant, that money has an undue influence on politics, and that too many voters face barriers when seeking to access the ballot box. H.R. 1 sounds an alarm about the long, overdue steps that must be taken now to restore the integrity and health of our democracy.

As Congress considers H.R. 1, we urge our elected officials to turn equal attention to the need to restore the Voting Rights Act. In 2013, the Supreme Court cut out the heart of the VRA and put the ball in Congress’s court to take legislative action to restore the legislation. On the eve of the 2020 redistricting cycle and the 2020 election season, Congress must make restoration of the Voting Rights Act a top priority.”

The comprehensive legislative package includes provisions aimed at improving access to the ballot box, enhancing the integrity of the electoral process; establishing transparency in how campaigns are financed; and providing a framework for ethical governance.

Officials like to make exaggerated claims and promote hysteria around vote fraud whenever they seek to lay the groundwork for new voter suppression schemes. That certainly is the case right now in Texas.

On Friday, the Texas secretary of state’s office issued a statement alleging that there are 95,000 non-citizens on the registration rolls. Attorney General Ken Paxton claims that about 58,000 people on his list have voted and is now vowing to prosecute them.

We are highly skeptical of Paxton’s latest claims. Similar claims made by election officials have been advanced in places like Kansas, only to be proven false in the end.

In this current environment, one of the unfortunate consequences of this kind of announcement is the chilling effect on the electorate, particularly among communities of color. By advancing these spurious claims, without an iota of supporting evidence, Paxton’s claims undermine public confidence in our democracy.

As we note in the New York Times, “Texas has a rich history of undertaking action to make it harder for people to vote. Whenever you’re invoking the threat of criminal prosecution, the chilling effect becomes almost unavoidable.”

We are fighting back against voter suppression in Texas and across the country. We’ve fought Ken Paxton’s voter suppressions before and we’re prepared to fight him again.