Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, the right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. It is the most basic and most essential expression…”

“Mr. Speaker, the right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. It is the most basic and most essential expression of citizenship. When that right is put into doubt, when citizens cannot know that a ballot cast is a ballot counted and that their unique voice has been heard. It undermines confidence in our entire political system, as well as the government formed on a foundation of those ballots. People must have confidence that their votes counts. Last year's Presidential election shook that confidence to the core. And while the Ney-Hoyer bill is a first step toward reforming that system, the substitute that my colleagues and I would have offered, had it been allowed, would have vastly improved on the underlying bill. It would have required that all voting systems and polling places be accessible to disabled and blind voters and that alternative language accessibility be provided for citizens with limited English proficiency. To accurately record the voter's intent, the amendment would have required that all voting systems notify voters of over- and undervotes, verify the vote, and provide the opportunity to correct the ballot before it was cast. This is particularly important, because the poorest technology, the most error-ridden technology, is often found in the poorest communities.”