Republicans, here: http://washingtoninformer.com/news/2016/may/11/hillary-clinton-restoring-faith-democracy/
Ever since the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, many states that used to face special scrutiny because of their history of racial discrimination have passed new voting restrictions. In the last three years, 17 states have made voting more difficult by requiring proof of citizenship, ending same-day registration and restricting early and mail-in ballots.
One of the worst offenders is North Carolina, where Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that does all this and more. It even includes a harsh new voter photo ID requirement. That only serves to create another unnecessary obstacle for low-income voters and communities of color to have their voices heard.
Make no mistake: These kinds of restrictions don’t come about by accident. They’re a blast from the Jim Crow past, and it’s just one of many other examples of a sustained effort to disenfranchise communities of color across the country.
I believe that we should be making it easier to vote — not harder. And there are several steps we should take immediately to restore trust in our democracy.
First, I believe Congress must move quickly to pass legislation to restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act that American voters need and deserve.
Second, we should implement the recommendations of the bipartisan presidential commission to improve voting. These are commonsense reforms – agreed upon by lawyers from the Obama and Romney campaigns – that include expanding early, absentee, and mail voting, and ensuring no one has to wait more than 30 minutes to cast their ballot.
Third, we should set a new national standard of at least 20 days of early in-person voting everywhere – including on weekends and evenings. Early voting isn’t just convenient; it’s also more secure, more reliable and more affordable than absentee voting.
And finally I’m calling for universal, automatic voter registration. I believe the ability to vote should be our society’s default setting. That means every citizen should be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18 unless they actively choose to opt out.
Of course, the media (and Sanders fans) ignore all that.
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