[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             VOTING RIGHTS

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, on Monday, our Nation celebrated the 
life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Like many Americans, it 
was a day of self-reflection for me. While leading a bipartisan 
delegation to Ukraine, I had a front-row seat to a nation struggling to 
hold on to its democracy in the face of a potential outside attack. 
This comes at a very poignant moment in America's history when we were 
reminded of the strength and fragility of our own democracy.
  One year ago, a violent mob fueled by false claims of widespread 
election fraud stormed the U.S. Capitol. This was the most significant 
assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812. Although State and 
Federal judges ruled against efforts to overturn the results of the 
election, this lie of election fraud has continued to propagate. And 
now, those who didn't like the 2020 election results are trying to 
rewrite the rules.
  Since the 2020 elections, Republican State lawmakers have passed an 
unprecedented number of bills to erode the authority of state and local 
election officials. These new laws would strip secretaries of state of 
their authority, allow partisan ballot reviews, and even make local 
election officials criminally or financially liable for technical 
errors and actions, such as proactively sending out absentee ballot 
applications.
  In total, 19 States have passed regressive laws that make it harder 
to vote and, in some extreme cases, may even allow Republican-
controlled legislatures to overturn the results of a legitimate 
election by using false claims of voter fraud. In New Hampshire, over 
the past year, we have seen efforts to eliminate same-day voter 
registration, a measure that would disproportionately impact young 
voters, including college students and first-time voters.
  Similarly, other efforts to prohibit students attending college in 
New Hampshire from voting in our State's elections would unduly 
burden--if not outright disenfranchise--many of those young voters. 
Other attempts to make voter registration more complicated have failed 
in court, including requirements for additional documentation for same-
day registrants, and restrictions on which types of addresses are valid 
for registration.
  These efforts are ongoing, with additional restrictive and burdensome 
measures being introduced as recently as the current legislative 
session. And it is not just our voter laws. Earlier this month, the 
Republican-controlled New Hampshire House approved a redistricting plan 
that can only be described as gerrymandering. Taken together, these 
measures represent a comprehensive and coordinated attempt to burden--
or even deprive--certain Granite State citizens of their right to vote. 
Such blatant efforts to suppress the vote must not be tolerated.
  The right to vote is one of the most fundamental and cherished 
principles of our democracy. The history of our Republic is marked by 
those seminal moments when we as a nation extended the right to cast a 
ballot to broader populations, thereby including more voices in our 
representative government: first after the Civil War with the 15th 
Amendment, then to women with the 19th Amendment, and then notably with 
the 1965 Voting Rights Act. As others have noted, the Voting Rights Act 
has historically drawn great bipartisan support for its reauthorization 
because the principles embodied in it go to the very heart of our 
democracy.
  But the issues and challenges that are increasingly facing our voters 
are very real and very troubling--and we must take them seriously or 
risk eroding that most fundamental of rights. Making voter registration 
more difficult or making the process of voting more burdensome has 
disproportionate effects on some of the most vulnerable voters--whether 
those be young voters, communities of color, the poor, the homeless, 
among others. Eliminating or limiting opportunities for early voting, 
same-day registration, voting by mail, automatic registration, or the 
use of absentee ballots are all different pathways to the same 
pernicious effect--the suppression of the vote.
  That is why I am proud to cosponsor the Freedom to Vote Act and the 
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Together, these bills would 
standardize voting election laws across the country, expand voting 
access and restore key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that 
have been struck down or weakened by the Supreme Court.
  The right to vote isn't determined by political affiliation. It is 
the most sacred right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution for every 
eligible American and ensures that our country is, as President Lincoln 
said, ``government of the people, by the people, for the people.''
  I am deeply disappointed by the inability--or unwillingness--of this 
august body to come together today to take this basic step in defense 
of our democracy. We, the U.S. Senate, ought to be the foremost 
champions and defenders of democracy, but today, I fear that we have 
allowed partisan considerations to distract us from that duty.
  We cannot afford to stay silent and ignore these measures that 
attempt to undo the progress that we have made over decades. We 
especially cannot stay silent when all of us here witnessed the 
horrific events of January 2021 and the attempt to undo a legitimate 
election. Protecting voting rights for every American is the first and 
irreplaceable step towards protecting our democracy. We must take it 
seriously, we must not let it wither in the dark, and we must not stay 
silent. It is far too important--and once damaged, it is far too hard 
to rebuild.

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