[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 15052-15053]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 268--RECOGNIZING SEPTEMBER 26, 2017, AS ``NATIONAL 
                        VOTER REGISTRATION DAY''

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration:

                              S. Res. 268

       Whereas the right to vote is a fundamental right that--
       (1) is guaranteed to the people of the United States; and
       (2) constitutes the core of the democracy of the United 
     States;
       Whereas countless people of the United States have 
     struggled to obtain and protect the right to vote;
       Whereas each eligible United States citizen who would like 
     to vote should be able to do so without encountering 
     unnecessary barriers to the ballot box;
       Whereas eligible United States citizens who are 18 years of 
     age or older have the legal rights--
       (1) to register to vote; and
       (2) to vote;
       Whereas the Bureau of the Census estimates that over 20 
     percent of eligible United States citizens are not registered 
     to vote;
       Whereas many United States citizens are not aware that they 
     must register to vote before they may cast a ballot;
       Whereas, because United States citizens must register in 
     order to vote, many political campaigns, nonprofit 
     organizations, religious organizations, and other groups 
     conduct voter registration drives;
       Whereas despite the efforts to register United States 
     citizens to vote, the Pew Charitable Trusts have found that 
     more than 60 percent of adult United States citizens have 
     never been asked to register to vote;
       Whereas, while some States allow same-day voter 
     registration, many other States require registration as many 
     as 30 days before the date of the election in which a person 
     seeks to vote;
       Whereas if a voter has changed names, moved, or not voted 
     in recent elections, the voter registration of the voter must 
     be updated;
       Whereas 1 of 9 United States citizens moves each year, 
     rendering outdated the former voter registration of the 
     individuals who have moved;
       Whereas updating voter registration ensures an easier 
     experience at the polls on election day;
       Whereas increased voter registration may lead to a higher 
     participation rate in elections, which would strengthen the 
     democracy of the United States; and
       Whereas the many organizations and individuals who 
     encourage voter registration and civic participation have 
     promoted National Voter Registration Day on the fourth 
     Tuesday of each September, which in 2017 falls on Tuesday, 
     September 26: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes September 26, 2017, as ``National Voter 
     Registration Day''; and
       (2) encourages each voting-eligible citizen of the United 
     States--
       (A) to register to vote;
       (B) to verify with the appropriate State or local election 
     official that the name, address, and other personal 
     information on record is current; and
       (C) to go to the polls on election day and vote if the 
     voting-eligible citizen would like to do so.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise to discuss my resolution, S. 
Res. 268, calling on the Senate to formally recognize September 26 as 
National Voter Registration Day.
  National Voter Registration Day is a celebration of our democracy and 
our Nation's most fundamental right--the right to vote.
  Today, thousands of volunteers and organizations in all 50 States are 
hitting the streets to register voters. Their goal is to create 
awareness about the registration process and register people who may 
not register on their own or don't have the time or don't know how to 
do it. It is really to reach out to people way ahead of an election. 
Last year, their hard work paid off, and more than 750,000 Americans 
registered to vote on National Voter Registration Day.
  These volunteers understand that voting is a fundamental right, but 
not everyone agrees. There are still people who seem to see it as a 
privilege that not all eligible voters should enjoy. That is not the 
way we should see this.
  The right to vote is clearly under attack in the United States. We 
have seen discriminatory voting laws spring up across the country, and 
those who want to prevent people from voting are making it harder and 
harder for people to get to the polls.

[[Page 15053]]

  I do not see this as a partisan issue. My State last year had the 
highest voting rate in the country. And we have seen a number of States 
that do things like have same-day registration, mail-in ballots, things 
like that, and they tend to have higher voting rates. They are not just 
Democratic States or Republican States; they are Independent States. 
And when you look at the list, it doesn't necessarily mean that a 
certain party is going to win. We had Independent Governor Jesse 
Ventura win in our State; Governor Tim Pawlenty. But what our States 
share is a higher voter turnout. What does that mean? Well, it means 
that people have some trust in their government when they participate. 
Even when their candidate doesn't win and the other candidate wins, at 
least they know they had a say and that it mattered and that they went 
to the voting booth.
  That is what I am talking about today because in some States, we have 
seen discriminatory voting laws spring up, and they have literally made 
it harder for people to vote. We have heard reports of problems with 
equipment. We had 3-hour lines in Arizona. We had 100 miles to the 
nearest polling station in Nevada and Utah, photo ID requirements in 
Wisconsin, where we now know it can really be hard to get an ID in the 
first place. In North Carolina, a Federal court found that the State's 
laws to prevent voter access--and this is a more conservative court, 
the Fifth Circuit--they said the voter laws had been crafted with 
``surgical precision'' to discriminate against minorities.
  Now we have an administration that is abandoning efforts to uphold 
voting rights. In many States, this is a truly bipartisan effort. The 
Commission on ``Election Integrity'' looks to be making it harder, 
rather than easier, to vote. States are reporting that some Americans 
are actually unregistering to vote because of the Commission's request 
for personal data from across the country. We have had Democratic and 
Republican secretaries of state band together to say this is something 
they don't want to do.
  Taken together, these efforts to suppress the vote represent a 
concerted strategy to ensure that fewer people make it to the polls. 
This is not about one party or the other party; this is about our 
democracy. Our very freedoms are built upon the freedom to vote.
  So what else do we see? Well, we see attacks from without on our 
election. I remember the Presiding Officer had an excellent quote on 
this matter when he said: One election, it will be one candidate in one 
party; and the next election, it could be the other candidate from the 
other party. That is why, when we look at interference from foreign 
governments, we must also protect the sacred right to vote, and that 
means everything from the amendment I have with Senator Lindsey Graham, 
which is now a bill, to make sure our cyber security is strengthened as 
we head into the 2018 election and make sure that our States have the 
ability to protect their own voting equipment. The reports now--I just 
found out that in my own State, an attempt had been made to hack it. In 
21 States, we have seen attempts at hacking.
  All our bill does is say: Let's help the States to shore up their 
equipment, to make sure they have backup paper ballots and other 
commonsense measures.
  This bill in the House--the amendment to the National Defense 
Authorization Act--was carried by Mark Meadows, the head of the Freedom 
Caucus. That is right. It is a bipartisan amendment across both the 
House and the Senate to protect our State election equipment. Our 
country is stronger when everyone participates, and that is why we must 
protect the election equipment.
  We must make it easier to vote. I have one idea: Why don't we just 
automatically register eligible voters when they turn 18, maybe when 
they get their driver's license or Social Security number. Our States 
have that data. They also have a way to crosscheck with criminal 
records and other things to make sure these are eligible voters. 
Wouldn't that be easier than going out and trying to get everyone to 
vote? It doesn't mean you have to vote, but you automatically get 
registered to vote, just like you get your Social Security number.
  There is momentum for this idea at the State level. Last month, 
Illinois became the 10th State to pass automatic voter registration. 
Experts project that it will result in 1 million people being added to 
the registration list. Estimates show that as many as 50 million 
eligible voters would be registered if we moved to automatic 
registration.
  Another thing we can do to increase turnout is to allow same-day 
voting. In February, I introduced the Same Day Voter Registration Act, 
a bill that will allow people to register to vote on election day. This 
reduces the burden of voting and ensures that anyone who forgets to 
register can go up there to prove who they are and they can get 
registered. Fifteen States have this--not just blue States, but red 
States and blue States. And they always tend to be up at the top in the 
number of people who vote.
  We need to restore Americans' confidence in our election process and 
our democracy, and we do that by welcoming people to vote.
  A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to go with Congressman Lewis 
on his yearly pilgrimage--his trip where he takes people to the site of 
the march to Montgomery. The weekend I got to go was actually the 
moment 48 years to the weekend later. The White police chief of 
Montgomery handed his badge to Congressman Lewis and gave him that 
badge and apologized. He apologized because their police department at 
that time, 48 years before, had not protected the African-American 
marchers and those other citizens who were there marching with them.
  It took 48 years, but it happened. It was an emotional trip, and it 
made you think about those marchers and everything they had done just 
to get the right to vote. You see it in other countries where people 
will wait in line for a day just to be able to have their say in their 
own government. That is really what this is about. It is about a 
freedom--the freedoms that are guaranteed in our Constitution. One of 
those is that we can all participate. As long as we make the rules, as 
long as we are eligible, we can all participate.
  Today on National Voter Registration Day, I hope that people will 
join me in celebrating the work of those who are out there encouraging 
people to vote and, of course, get out there and register yourself so 
your own voice can be heard.

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