Ranking Member Morelle and Subcommittee on Elections Ranking Member Terri Sewell Statement on the 10 year Anniversary of the Shelby County Decision

Press Release

"The constitutional right to vote preserves all our other rights. It is the foundation of our democracy. It provides all of us an equal opportunity to have our voices heard in the decisions that govern our lives. Our democracy suffers, as does our wellbeing as individuals and as a nation, when barriers are erected that deny people this sacred right.

A decade ago, the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision decimated an essential part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that had prevented countless discriminatory laws targeting voters of color. As predicted, a flood of restrictive voting bills, extreme racial gerrymandering, voter roll purges, and polling location closings targeting voters of color set our nation backward.

There is a path forward to protect the right to vote and reverse the Shelby County decision. We must restore federal oversight over the most extreme state legislatures. Congress must pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Together, these bills restore the Voting Rights Act and establish national standards that ensure all eligible Americans have access to the ballot, regardless of which state they live in."

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