PENNSYLVANIA – 55 years ago today, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson to combat institutionalized racism at the ballot box and to help realize the full promise of the Constitution for all voters. In the decades since, far-right extremists — like Donald Trump — have worked to erode that progress.
“55 years ago today, we declared as a nation that the right to vote is the central pillar of our democracy, and it must be defended. But right now, extremists like Donald Trump and his enablers are attacking that right for Pennsylvanians,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Vice-Chair Senator Sharif Street.
Trump and Pennsylvania Republicans have filed a voter suppression lawsuit to limit voting by mail and subject Pennsylvania voters to predatory poll watching. This would not only put the health and safety of voters and poll workers at risk — it would suppress the voices of Black and Brown communities in particular. It’s nothing more than a cheap attempt to rig the election in their favor — and Pennsylvania Democrats are fighting back in court. It’s shameful that 55 years after the passage of the VRA, we must still keep up the fight for voting rights, but we will never back down when the voices of Pennsylvanians are under attack.”
BACKGROUND:
- Trump and his GOP allies — including four Congressmen from Pennsylvania — are in court suing to suppress turnout in the upcoming election.
- Right-wing Trump-aligned groups are attempting to illegitimately purge voter rolls in Pennsylvania and around the country ahead of the November election.
- Trump has tried to undermine vote-by-mail by making false claims about its security
- Trump and the GOP are recruiting an “army” of poll watchers in an attempt to intimidate legitimate voters, especially voters of color.
- Despite no evidence of widespread fraud, Trump has repeatedly pushed for reckless, unnecessary voter ID requirements that make it harder for people to vote.
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