Advancement Project National Office Endorses Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Enshrine An Affirmative and Explicit Right To Vote For All
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2020
Media Contacts
Maya Boddie, mboddie@advancementproject.org
Jeralyn Cave, jcave@advancementproject.org
The fundamental right to vote is essential in a just, multiracial democracy.
Washington, D.C. — Federal lawmakers today proposed a groundbreaking amendment to the U.S. Constitution to enshrine an affirmative and explicit right to vote for all. The proposal guarantees “the fundamental right to vote in any public election” of every citizen of the United States of legal voting age, and requires courts to apply the highest level of judicial review to voter suppression laws that deny or restrict the fundamental right to vote, including state criminal disenfranchisement laws.
[READ THE DURBIN-WARREN RIGHT TO VOTE AMENDMENT HERE]
The amendment, proposed by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), is a historic step towards establishing a new and better democracy where the fundamental right to vote is guaranteed to all. Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Edward Markey (D-MA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have co-sponsored the proposal.
“President Barack Obama recently eulogized Representative John Lewis as a ‘Founding Father’ of ‘a better America. If John Lewis is a new Founding Father, then this amendment is a bold step towards that new America.” Edward A. Hailes, Jr., Managing Director and General Counsel of Advancement Project National Office said. “This amendment, combined with passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2020, would once and for all secure the right to vote for all. This proposal is an historic step forward in ensuring that no American, including Americans who are formerly incarcerated individuals and returning citizens, are denied their constitutional right to vote.”
For two decades, Advancement Project National Office has championed an affirmative and explicit right to vote amendment. The Durbin-Warren Right to Vote Amendment proposed today would once and for all affirmatively enshrine the right to vote in the U.S. Constitution, placing an enormous burden on states to defend each and every barrier they might hope to impose on the franchise. Importantly, for the first time, the language of the Amendment addresses returning citizens’ voting rights.
“A constitutional amendment enshrining the right to vote is needed now more than ever. Americans know that their right to vote is not secure, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project National Office said. “Everyone’s heart dropped when the U.S. Supreme Court failed to protect the right to vote of Wisconsin voters during the primary. Everyone’s heart broke as we watched Wisconsin voters, especially Black voters, risk their lives to vote. In the absence of this amendment, politicians will continue playing fast and loose with our lives and our right to vote, adopting or maintaining restrictive voting laws without providing any compelling evidence for imposing them. Courts will continue to look the other way. We would never tolerate this kind of deference with other rights, like the right of free speech or freedom of religion. It’s time to protect voting rights in the same way. It’s time to arm ourselves with one of the powerful tools possible in the fight against voter suppression in the 21st century — an affirmative right to vote.”
The lack of an affirmative right to vote in the U.S. Constitution is inextricably tied to the history of racism in America, as the founders compromised on this right to accommodate slave states. Hundreds of years after the founding of the United States, we are still fighting this original sin.
“This is the moment for an ‘impossible,’ visionary demand like the right to vote amendment,” said Catoya Roberts, National Network Coordinator for Advancement Project National Office. “We have long known that the right to vote is ‘missing’ from the federal Constitution because during the founding of this country, slave states were ‘fiercely unwilling’ to add an affirmative and explicit right to vote in the federal constitution. Instead, voting still largely remains within control of states and local election officials where it is more vulnerable to relentless assaults to strip Americans of their fundamental rights. Today, millions of Americans of all races have joined a Black-led movement to demand a national reckoning over this country’s historic and present-day racism. Now is the time to finally enshrine an affirmative right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. Advancement Project National Office and our partner organizations look forward to being at the table with Senator Warren and Senator Durbin as we continue to build power to advance and expand our democracy.”
To learn more about the work Advancement Project National Office is doing to ensure the #RightToVote, visit advancementproject.org.
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Advancement Project National Office, founded in 1999, is a next generation, multi-racial civil rights organization with a mission to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive, and just democracy.
