[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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