Shakari Byerly
@snichele.bsky.social
Reposted by Shakari Byerly
NEW: In prepared farewell remarks to the DOJ, outgoing Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said, "As we prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we must all continue push for something that should be beyond dispute — that we all deserve to have a voice in our democracy."
![Ensuring All Americans Have Voice in Our Democracy
Dr. King regarded the right to vote as paramount. He understood that the ballot made public officials accountable, that it made them responsive, that it made them listen to the voices of marginalized communities. “So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote, I do not possess myself….I cannot make up my mind — it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact — I can only submit to the edict of others.”
The Civil Rights Division has carried forward Dr. King’s vision for voting rights by vigorously defending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and fighting against voter suppression across the country.
In recent years, states have introduced restrictive voting laws that make it harder for historically disenfranchised communities to access the ballot. The division has sued to enjoin unconstitutional voter ID laws, pushed back against racially gerrymandered redistricting maps, worked to ensure language access for minority voters, stood up for members of the military participating from overseas, advocated for voters with disabilities and worked to address other tactics that, in the words of one court of appeals, “target[ed] African-Americans with almost surgical precision.”
The division has continued to push for restoration of the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, to undo the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder that eviscerated key provisions of the law and opened the floodgates of voter suppression. We have worked to make it clear that the right to vote is not an indulgence or reward bestowed by the state.
As we prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we must all continue push for something that should be beyond dispute — that we all deserve to have a voice in our democracy.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:eijqdygh72wuei7faamrclpc/bafkreibbfva3nxildetl7rdny3yzbctrsh3dlmmju6ipekll6crzwlbfxy@jpeg)
January 13, 2025 at 11:29 PM
NEW: In prepared farewell remarks to the DOJ, outgoing Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said, "As we prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we must all continue push for something that should be beyond dispute — that we all deserve to have a voice in our democracy."