[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 129 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               ELECTIONS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I will get right to the point: the very 
definition of democracy in the United States is under attack. You see 
it in State legislatures across the country. Powerful partisans 
advancing bill after bill to restrict voters' access to the ballot box. 
It flies in the face of the very evolution of progress.
  Gone are the days when voters rode on horseback or walked for miles 
to cast their ballot. Technological advances, commonsense 
understandings of the daily lives of hard-working Americans--all these 
things and more recommend an open, accessible, expanded, and secure 
election process. Yet instead of seizing these opportunities to ensure 
every voice, every vote counts, partisan efforts are afoot to take us 
back--back to a time when senseless barriers were erected to block the 
votes of very specific communities.
  The U.S. Senate--the democratically elected U.S. Senate--should not 
stand for such an assault on our democracy. And every Senator who 
swears the oath of office should stand up and stand against this bitter 
attack on the ballot box.
  Protecting the right to vote has long been bipartisan. I stood 
alongside my dear friend, himself a soldier in the war against voter 
oppression, John Lewis, when we reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 
2006. And it was with a heavy--but hopeful--heart that I reintroduced 
the Voting Rights Advancement Act last year to bear his name. I will 
soon do so again. This bipartisan legislation should advance, and 
quickly.
  Now is the time for every American--regardless of party, regardless 
of politics--to stand in defense of our democracy. To stand for what is 
right, and to stand with the clear arc of history--the arc that bends 
toward justice, toward inclusion, towards equality. With one loud and 
clear voice, we should reject erosions of voter protections. And we 
should do so now.
  Vermont has always been at the forefront of expanding access to the 
ballot, and one of our State's leaders in that fight has been Secretary 
of State Jim Condos. I ask unanimous consent that a column by Secretary 
Condos, published in the July 14 edition of The Times Argus, be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Times Argus, July 14, 2021]

                    Our Democracy Is at a Crossroads

                            (By Jim Condos)

       ``The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent 
     tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it''--
     John Lewis
       This month we celebrated the birth of our nation.
       Since its inception, American democracy has undergone 
     continual transformation. During the past 245 years, many 
     activists and advocates have fought tirelessly to expand the 
     franchise that our democratic ideals depend on: the right to 
     vote.
       From suffragettes to civil rights leaders, their work has 
     ensured that the march of progress has been oriented forward, 
     focused on increasing access to the ballot box.
       This Independence Day was an opportunity to reflect on the 
     resiliency of our country and of our democracy. There has 
     been no shortage of challenges during the past year and a 
     half. Despite these challenges, we achieved record breaking 
     turnout for a general election, which nonpartisan experts 
     have described as the most secure and the most scrutinized 
     election in U.S. history. We were able to do so with common-
     sense voting reforms, providing voters with more options for 
     receiving and casting their ballot.
       After the ballot counting was completed, and the careful 
     town by town certification process took place, we had 
     official results and a list of election winners and losers, 
     just like every other general election in memory.
       Unlike other election years, what has followed has brought 
     our democracy to a crossroads. Without producing any 
     evidence, the former president and his allies have used known 
     false voter-fraud claims as justification for their attempts 
     to use state legislatures and phony `fraudits' to supersede 
     the will of the people and, more significantly, to restrict 
     access to the ballot box.
       Our democratic principles should have to endure constant 
     debate. However, willfully disregarding the certified, 
     official election results in an effort to circumvent the will 
     of the people and prevent the peaceful transition of power 
     sets our country on a dangerous path.
       Sending us even further into treacherous territory, some 
     state legislatures are using `the Big Lie' to roll back the 
     voter access expansions made during 2020, and to further 
     suppress voting rights through measures such as the 
     implementation of more restrictive voter ID laws, limits on 
     the ballot-by-mail request period, elimination or reduction 
     in ballot drop boxes, and closure of polling precincts.
       After record-breaking turnout in 2020, and with zero 
     evidence of widespread fraud or election rigging, why would 
     they want to make it harder for eligible Americans to vote? 
     The answer is simple: because they were unhappy with the 
     results and want fewer people to vote.
       Overall, there have been over 350 bills introduced in 47 
     states with the sole purpose of reducing access to the 
     ballot. In June alone, 17 state legislatures enacted 28 new 
     voter restriction laws. A small few include reasonable, 
     understandable reforms.
       Most make no sense at all. It is clear that some lawmakers 
     would prefer to pick their voters, rather than voters picking 
     their representatives.
       Frankly, I am concerned for our nation. We stand at a 
     crossroads, and the decisions we make now will ripple 
     throughout time.
       There is hope. In Vermont, we saw the record turnout as a 
     positive, so we made the mailing of ballots to all voters a 
     permanent fixture of Vermont general elections. We also 
     created a new pathway for voters to correct a defective 
     ballot so that their vote will count. We did this by working 
     across the aisles with the support of Democrats, Republicans, 
     Progressives and independents.
       In the face of the alarming rise in state-level attacks on 
     voting rights, we cannot afford to wait for solutions one-by-
     one in all 50 states. With the gutting of the Voting Rights 
     Act by the Supreme Court, we no longer have the luxury of a 
     ``wait and see'' approach. Congress can, and must, create 
     minimum voter access and fairness standards that states must 
     abide by, so that eligible voters are not being denied their 
     voting rights.
       The true voter fraud in this country is denying any 
     eligible American their right to register and vote.
       Congress alone can put an end to restrictive and 
     unnecessary obstacles to voting, prohibit racebased and 
     partisan gerrymandering, make automatic, online and same day 
     voter registration the law of the land, and make voting by 
     mail accessible for every voter, regardless of which side of 
     an invisible line you live on.
       Two federal bills pending, the For the People Act, and the 
     John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, give Congress this 
     opportunity to act. The time has come for the partisan, 
     political games to stop. Those who are prioritizing the 
     promotion of politically motivated falsehoods about the 
     security of our elections, over the voting rights of the 
     people who put them in office, are committing a severe 
     dereliction of duty.
       In 2021, our democracy has come to a crossroads. 
     Fortunately, we have a roadmap, we just need to follow it.

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