Saunders: ‘Protecting and expanding access to the ballot box should be a bipartisan value’

WASHINGTON — AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after the U.S. Senate failed to open debate on the Freedom to Vote Act:

“Voting rights are under siege around the country, with 19 states having enacted laws designed specifically to suppress the vote and disenfranchise people of color and other marginalized, underrepresented communities. Protecting and expanding access to the ballot box should be a bipartisan value, as it has been in the past. Instead, some senators have chosen to block even having a debate on the Freedom to Vote Act. This orchestrated, cynical attack on our most precious right is all about silencing the voices of Americans who don’t share the extreme views of those senators. And using the filibuster to defeat this bill makes it all the more shameful. It is time to pass this important legislation and do everything possible to unrig the political system and strengthen our democracy.”