[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E118-E119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE STREAMLINED AND IMPROVED METHODS AT POLLING 
                     LOCATIONS AND EARLY VOTING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2017

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Streamlined 
and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early Voting Act, also 
known as the ``SIMPLE'' Voting Act for short. I introduced this bill 
earlier today.
  This is a scary time for voting rights. We are witnessing an assault 
on voting rights the likes of which our nation has not seen since the 
passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The President is alleging, 
without evidence, that there is widespread voter fraud in our country.
  We know where this is heading. It is just the latest attempt to turn 
back the clock on voting rights since the Supreme Court overturned a 
key portion of the Voting Rights Act in 2013.
  In the name of protecting Americans from supposed in-person voter 
fraud, a fraud that is virtually non-existent, States have been 
enacting voter ID laws. The real reason for these laws, however, has 
been anything but election integrity. It has been about partisan 
politics and discrimination.
  But don't take my word for it. Take the words of legislators like the 
then-Pennsylvania House Majority Leader who boasted in 2012 that the 
state's newly enacted voter ID law would allow Mitt Romney to win his 
state. While speaking about his legislature's accomplishments, he said, 
``Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of 
Pennsylvania: done.''
  Or take the more recent comments of a freshman Republican Wisconsin 
state representative last year who, while being interviewed about the 
2016 election, said, ``And now we have photo ID, and I think photo ID 
is going to make a little bit of a difference as well.''
  Or take the word of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit 
which said that new provisions of a voter ID law in North Carolina, 
``target African Americans with almost surgical precision[.]'' 
According to the court, the law imposed cures for problems that did not 
exist, and ``Thus the asserted justifications cannot and do not conceal 
the State's true motivation.''
  The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. It is sacred. 
Yet, sadly, we have an ugly history in this nation of efforts to limit 
people's ability to access this constitutional right.
  We need to make it easier for people to vote, not harder, and that is 
why I have introduced this bill today.
  If enacted, the SIMPLE Voting Act would require states to allow early 
voting for federal elections for at least two weeks prior to election 
day, and to the greatest extent possible ensure that polling locations 
are within walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route.
  It would also require that sufficient voting systems, poll workers 
and other election resources are provided, that wait times are fair and 
equitable for all voters across a state, and that no one be required to 
wait longer than one hour to cast a ballot at a polling place.

[[Page E119]]

  None of this should be controversial. This is all common sense, or at 
least should be, to those who want to help more Americans to vote.
  I urge my colleagues to pass this bill.

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