What I Do
IBEW keeps San Francisco's cable cars running.
IBEW keeps San Francisco's cable cars running.
The United States lags far behind other democracies in the percentage of citizens who are registered to vote. In contrast to Canada, Mexico, Great Britain and many other countries with voter registration rates between 90 and 100%, only two-thirds (68%) of eligible voters in the United States are registered to vote. More than 50 million eligible voters are unregistered, and minorities are over-represented in the ranks of unregistered voters. Restrictive voter registration laws place the burden on individual voters to register and stay registered when they move or their information changes. As a result, millions of eligible Americans are not registered, and millions more registered voters regularly fall off the rolls, often without their knowledge. These complications cause confusion and delay at the polls, resulting in the long lines we saw across America on Election Day.
As President Obama said in his acceptance speech on Election Night, “We have to fix that.” It is incumbent on government to expand voting opportunities in America and to support universal voter registration, not to erect new hurdles, like strict voter ID laws and other barriers to voting.
The AFL-CIO supports legislative and administrative reforms at the federal, state and local levels to expand voter registration and greater access to voting, including expanded early voting, no-fault absentee voting, same day registration and voter registration modernization. We also think voting rights should be restored to individuals who have committed crimes but served their time. We will work with our allies to adopt legislative and administrative reforms at all levels to expand democracy and expand the right to vote.
It is essential that safeguards be maintained against efforts to restrict the right to vote, particularly as it relates to minority voters. Today, the Supreme Court hears a case involving a constitutional challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The AFL-CIO strongly believes in the continued need and vitality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. We have joined in a brief urging the court to uphold Section 5 and believe the record overwhelmingly demonstrates the need for this important law.
State elected officials are key to the success of voter enfranchisement efforts. When reviewing candidates for state office, a key consideration will be whether the candidate has committed to increasing the ranks of registered voters in their state and whether the candidate has sponsored or endorsed measures to expand our electorate.
