Garland Commits to Protect the Freedom to Vote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shin Inouye, [email protected], 202.869.0398

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcements today on voting rights:

“We applaud Attorney General Garland for saying unequivocally that the Department of Justice will take significant steps to protect the freedom to vote. Our country works best when we can all participate.  Barriers to the ballot box are antithetical to our democracy and must be torn down.

“We echo the call from the administration for Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make the promise of our democracy real for all.”

Jesselyn McCurdy, interim executive vice president of government affairs of The Leadership Conference, testified before the Committee on House Administration, Subcommittee on Elections today on the role polling place quality and restrictions play in free and fair access to the ballot. Her full testimony can be found here.

The Leadership Conference, along with 87 national, state, and local organizations, this week urged Congress to swiftly pass two critical pieces of legislation needed to protect the freedom to vote — the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) and the For the People Act (FTPA). The full letter and list of organizations can be found here. The organization had also identified the two bills as a top priority for the incoming Biden administration.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.