For the third time this year, all 50 Senate Democrats voted to advance major voting rights legislation, and all Senate Republicans voted against allowing a public debate. On Oct. 20, they blocked the Freedom to Vote Act, a bill with commonsense reforms and widespread support. It’s a compilation of tried-and-true solutions empowering voters in states — bipartisan reforms that help ensure our elected officials represent we the people, not secret special interests.
Arizona Daily Star/InsideSources/Tribune News Service (Op-Ed): The freedom to vote is nonpartisan
Arizona Daily Star/InsideSources/Tribune News Service (Op-Ed): The freedom to vote is nonpartisan
Today, many Americans are skeptical about who our elected officials are working for. Seven in 10 of us believe “the economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful” and “traditional parties and politicians don’t care about people like me.” Yet for three years, Senate Republicans have refused to allow even public debate on a bill to protect our freedom to vote and get big money out of politics. This marks a huge, and troubling, change. Since the earliest days of our country, government “by the people” has been something Americans agreed on — regardless of party.
— Ronald Reagan signed an extension because “I’ve pledged that as long as I’m in a position to uphold the Constitution, no barrier will come between our citizens and the voting booth.”
How is it that, today, Senate Republicans view protecting the freedom to vote as a partisan issue?
Gerrymandering — the scheme of designing legislative districts to give some voters more power and other voters less — has been scorned by leaders in both parties. “Gerrymandering has become a national scandal,” Reagan said in 1987.
How is it that, today, allowing voters to choose their elected officials — rather than enabling politicians to pick their voters — has become a partisan issue?
Karen Hobert Flynn is the president of Common Cause. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.