Rep. Demings Calls on Senators to Pass Voting Rights Bill

ORLANDO, FL - Today Rep. Val Demings (FL-10) called on her Senate colleagues to vote yes tonight on the bill that she previously passed to protect the voting rights of American citizens: The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.Said Rep. Demings, "As a law enforcement officer I didn't know the political party of most of the men and women with whom I served. Their party didn't matter because we were there to do a job: to protect Floridians and uphold the law and the Constitution.

"It is not too late for Florida's Senators, and every Senator, to remember their oaths to the Constitution, to lay aside partisanship, and to protect our right to vote. Floridians deserve safe, secure, and fair elections, where every legal voter can easily cast a ballot. The right to vote is the foundation of our republic. Generations of Americans have bled and died to protect our democracy, and to build a more perfect union.

"Both Democrats and Republicans should support voting rights. Both Democrats and Republicans should support our democracy. Both Democrats and Republicans should support our Constitution. When it comes to protecting our civil rights, the vote in the Senate should be 100 to zero."

Background

Rep. Demings supported the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the For The People Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act.

Rep. Demings supports reforms to amend or abolish the filibuster and ensure that it cannot block critical protections for Floridians.

Florida has long history of voter suppression and efforts to disenfranchise voters. Florida was the first state to collect a poll tax. The original state constitution limited who was able to vote. Florida used poll tests and literacy tests. From 1890 to 1930, hundreds of people lost their lives, including in the 1920 Ocoee Massacre, which occurred on Election Day. On Christmas Day in 1951, a bomb killed Harry Moore, president of the Florida NAACP and the leader of voter registration efforts in Florida. He was the first NAACP official to be murdered for civil rights activism.

Rep. Demings previously cosponsored H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and H.R. 1, the For The People Act, to restore the Voting Rights Act, help secure our democracy from foreign interference, stop the partisan anti-democratic assault on our democracy from voter suppression, ban the scourge of partisan gerrymandering, stem the torrent of dark money flooding our elections and empower small donors. The Freedom to Vote Act is a compromise version of H.R.1.

The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act restores the Voting Rights Act, amending the coverage formula for preclearance and providing the Department of Justice greater authority to enforce the VRA. It also:

• Expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting);
• Establishes certain federal criminal offenses related to voting, specifically a new criminal offense for conduct (or attempted conduct) to corruptly hinder, interfere with, or prevent another person from registering to vote or helping someone register to vote;
• Sets forth provisions related to election security, including by requiring states to conduct post-election audits for federal elections;
• Outlines criteria for congressional redistricting and generally prohibits mid-decade redistricting; and,
• Addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices.

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