Local Comment

Today the right to vote is in danger across the country. That is because the Voting Rights Act can no longer protect Americans from discrimination at the ballot box.

However, our representative in Congress, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, when she was asked about it at multiple town halls in her district, would not fully support protecting the right to vote.

The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 to stop state and local governments from passing laws or policies that deny American citizens the equal right to vote based on their race. Representative McMorris Rodgers even voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act when it last came up for a vote in 2006. I thank her for that, and did so at the town hall meeting in Colfax this month.

But last June, a Supreme Court decision removed key parts of the law, and today, almost 50 years since the Voting Rights Act was first passed, states and localities around the country are passing discriminatory voting rules that make it harder for many Americans to vote.

The good news is that there is a bipartisan proposal in Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act and strengthen protections for the right to vote. The Voting Rights Amendment Act (HR3899/S1945) was introduced earlier this year by members of both parties. This bill increases transparency by requiring public disclosure of certain changes to voting laws, enables official observers to monitor elections in places with a recent history of discrimination, and allows voters to ask for a review and to challenge certain types of voting changes that are likely to be discriminatory.

But now the bill has stalled, because there are some in Congress who refuse to act and others who don’t see protecting the right to vote as a priority. When she was first asked about moving this critical legislation by the President of the League of Women Voters of Spokane, Rep. McMorris Rodgers responded that the Judiciary Committee, where the bill is sitting in the House, had other “priority issues” that they were focusing on.

After I asked her a second question at the Colfax town hall meeting, Representative McMorris Rodgers agreed that “we need to take some action” and committed to looking at the bill. She even commented that she may ultimately be supportive. As she heads back to Washington, she will need to fulfill her commitment, and become informed about where the process stands to protect the right to vote.

Protecting the right to vote for all has always had bipartisan support. That’s because the right to vote is the most fundamental right in our country. I hope Representative Rodgers, as Chair of the House Republican Conference, will encourage her colleagues to begin the process and hold hearings to discuss this most important issue for our democracy.

Now is the time for anyone in Congress to stand up and support this bill. The Voting Rights Act is the one law that ensures every eligible citizen has an equal opportunity to have a say. The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key part of the Voting Rights Act opens the door to politicians who wish to manipulate voting laws for their own gain, allowing them to pick and choose who gets to vote.

The choice is clear. Those who believe in the right to vote for all and who believe that discrimination in voting is wrong will stand up and support efforts to move the Voting Rights Amendment Act forward. We need to restore the Voting Rights Act to fulfill the promise of our constitution and ensure that all Americans have the right to vote without facing discrimination.

(Karen Kiessling has lived in Whitman County since 1967. A former mayor of Pullman, she is a member of the executive committee for the League of Women Voters of Pullman, a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government.)