On the recordJune 22, 2023
I rise today just a few days ahead of the anniversary of one of the most devastating Supreme Court voting rights decisions in our Nation's history. This coming Sunday marks the 10-year anniversary since the Supreme Court's Shelby v. Holder decision, when--surprise, surprise--a conservative majority of the Supreme Court voted to dramatically erode Americans' access to the ballot and undo 50 years of voting rights protections. Now, with the benefit of hindsight and my 6 years serving as California's chief elections officer, I can say that the decision in Shelby was not just an anomaly in our Nation's history. Since Shelby, we have seen State after State exploit this decision to enact dozens of laws designed to make it harder for some people to vote. Despite the proponents' claims, the effect of these laws is to make it harder and, disproportionately, for voters of color, voters with disabilities, college students, and senior citizens to register to vote, to stay registered to vote, or to actually cast their ballot. But, unfortunately, we have seen this before. While the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1870, guaranteeing all citizens the right to vote regardless of race, that did not stop States from limiting access to the ballot.…
