Political Quotes

“I know we have other business to attend to and an important debate on a procedure that is ongoing, but I want to note, with respect to my colleague from Maine, that section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is not the entirety of the Voting Rights Act. Section 4 and section 5, which provide for the preclearance of changes to voting laws in jurisdictions with a history or a pattern of voter suppression, are vital precisely because the post-facto litigation that the DOJ must embark upon to challenge State policies, once they have already been enacted, can be far too time-consuming to allow for a remedy to emerge in the courts. This is precisely why section 4 and section 5 were enacted at the time--to give the Department of Justice the power it needs to preclear these changes in places with a history of segregation and voter suppression. In my State, despite all of the protestations to the contrary, we are, right now, witnessing a significant wave of voter suppression policies. The Department of Justice should have the authority to preclear those changes to law to ensure they don't disproportionately impact minority communities. So section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is important, but if section 4 and section 5 were also vital when we voted to reauthorize them in 2006, why aren't they vital today? The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine.”