Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s (D. MN) re-election campaign:
A few years ago, together with Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman John Lewis, I stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, remembering all that it took to win the right to vote. Just a few months later -- four years ago this Sunday -- the Supreme Court handed down the Shelby County v. Holder decision, which undermined the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I was outraged.
Since that decision, things have only gotten worse. Discriminatory voting laws have popped up in state after state. One court said they’re being crafted with “surgical precision” to keep certain people from voting. That’s cold and calculated -- and it’s got to stop.
Less people having a saying at polls means less people have the right to influence decisions -- from the health care bill before us this week to climate change to student loan rates.
At a time when foreign enemies are attacking our democracy and our elections, we cannot allow attacks on voting to persist from within. In Minnesota, we have one of the highest voting rates in the country -- because we make it easier, not harder, to vote. That needs to be the policy across the entire nation.
I'm introducing multiple pieces of legislation to do just that. For starters, I want to allow same-day registration, like we have in Minnesota, in every state. That’s a bill my friend Keith Ellison is leading in the House. I want to make voter registration automatic too, adding millions of eligible voters to the rolls. And I want to restore the Voting Rights Act for once and for all.
Do you agree that voter participation is essential to our democracy? If so, will you add your name to mine to call for a restoration of the Voting Rights Act?
Thank you,
Amy
Click here to add your name.