Attacks on voting rights are nothing new; as one of the main avenues for the people to exert their power, voting rights have been targeted at the federal level for decades.
A 2013 Supreme Court decision gutted the federal Voting Rights Act, and now a proposed bill in Congress, the so-called “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act,” would disenfranchise millions of voters across the country by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. Enacting the SAVE Act would be a logistical nightmare: fewer than half of American adults have a valid passport, and millions cannot easily access their paper birth certificate.
This isn’t just red tape – it’s voter suppression.
New Jersey, one of the most diverse states in the country, must be a leader in combatting rampant voter suppression, especially as barriers to voting disproportionately harm our most vulnerable communities.
On Thursday, June 5, the ACLU of New Jersey co-sponsored Defending the Vote: The NJ Voter Empowerment Act and the Fight Against Federal Rollbacks alongside the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
The webinar explored how New Jersey can protect and expand voting rights by passing the New Jersey Voter Empowerment Act (NJVEA).
I joined this panel discussion with bill sponsor Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson to share why the NJVEA is a necessary step in protecting and expanding voting rights in New Jersey.
The NJVEA would strengthen our democracy by protecting voters of color, reducing barriers to voting, increasing language access and assistance, and prohibiting deceptive practices at the polls.
New Jersey has a crucial opportunity to make the Garden State a national leader in protecting and strengthening voting rights. Send a message to your elected officials and urge them to pass the New Jersey Voter Empowerment Act.
