[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17983]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   STANDING AGAINST VOTER SUPPRESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DIANA DeGETTE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2011

  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, voter suppression efforts are well are 
underway in my home state of Colorado. In September, the Colorado 
Secretary of State actually sued the City and County of Denver because 
the Clerk and Recorder's office over sending election ballots to every 
registered voter in Denver, including inactive registered voting men 
and women of the military and citizens living overseas. Our Secretary 
of State took exception because the law states ballots shall be mailed 
to all active registered electors. Last month, a Denver judge ruled 
that Denver County could in fact send these ballots to all registered 
voters for the upcoming November election, but officers at the highest 
levels of our state government have indicated they will continue in 
their attempts to limit the participation of any legal voter in our 
community.
  Unfortunately as it stands already, just more than half of eligible 
voters in the United States show up to make themselves heard during 
Presidential election years. That percentage dips into the thirties in 
so called ``off years.'' The last thing we need in America is fewer 
people voting. With 14 million Americans looking for work, and millions 
more struggling as a result of a growing wage gap, the problems facing 
this country are profound and complex, and addressing them will require 
a broad range of voices.
  All of us bear the responsibility for encouraging voter turnout--
especially in traditionally disenfranchised areas. Voting is the most 
effective way to drown out the influence of corporate campaign 
donations and the unaccountable and unwieldy super political action 
committees, which can raise unlimited sums of money to pour into our 
elections. Voting is the most effective way to be heard on the issues 
impacting our nation. For too many Americans, the right to vote did not 
come easy and many of us recognize the perilous consequences of not 
guarding this right aggressively.
  In 1964, Chief Justice Earl Warren expressed one of the basic truths 
of American history, that ``the right of suffrage is a fundamental 
matter in a free and democratic society.'' Efforts to suppress the 
democratic right to vote in pursuit of electoral gain are both 
misguided and unconstitutional, and I will continue to fight at the 
federal level to ensure every American, regardless of race, income, or 
heritage will have the opportunity to participate in the ``fundamental 
matter in a free and democratic society.''

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