Guest Column: Larsen Works for Voting Rights

— from State Representative Rick Larsen–

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), a groundbreaking civil rights law to prohibit racial discrimination in voting. The Act has broken down barriers for millions of people in our country to more fully participate in our democracy. But barriers still stand.

My goal is to make it easier for people to cast their vote and engage in our democracy. I am working to make sure that our country’s voting rights legacy 50 years from now empowers all citizens with their Constitutional right to vote.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down the section of the VRA that required jurisdictions with a history of discrimination against minority voters to clear election changes with the federal government. Since then, partisan state legislatures have been allowed to pass laws that are disenfranchising citizens and undermining our democracy.

Did you know that about two-thirds of states have laws in place requiring voters to show some kind of identification at the polls? Studies show these laws disproportionately hurt minorities, people with disabilities, those who are low-income, students, older Americans and transgendered individuals.

Sometimes when I talk to people about voter ID laws, they don’t understand why requiring IDs to vote is such a big deal. But not all people drive or fly internationally. And some cannot afford the cost of a state ID or take the time off of work to get it.

Some states are also curtailing early voting. Providing people fewer opportunities to vote makes casting a ballot more difficult overall. But in some states, particularly in the South, minority voters are more likely to cast their ballots early, meaning they are disproportionately hurt by these laws.

The fact that so many groups of people – from minorities and transgender people to older Americans, students, low-income people and those with disabilities – face barriers to voting is fundamentally destructive to our democracy. Voting is a Constitutional right that must not be abridged.

What am I doing about this serious problem?

• Recently, I reintroduced the America Votes Act. This straightforward bill would allow voters to sign a sworn written statement attesting to their identity if they do not have the ID required at their polling place. The bill would create a national system similar to the way we vote in Washington state.
• I am working with my colleagues to restore the heart of the Voting Rights Act. I support the Voter Empowerment Act, which takes several steps to improve access to the ballot box, including early voting in every state.