Bob Menendez: “there is one principle alone that should be guiding our debate on this election reform, and that is every American has a…”

“there is one principle alone that should be guiding our debate on this election reform, and that is every American has a full and equal opportunity to vote. It is a simple but extraordinarily important proposition, because it forms the justification of and expression for our democracy. Any undermining of that principle, even the perception of undermining, can do great damage to us. One person, one vote. We all know the questions about our system that the last Federal election left with our citizens. We must never allow a repeat of that. The Ney-Hoyer bill is a good step in that direction. Most importantly, their bill commits the resources we need to replace outdated voting systems. However, the bill turns a standard we passed in the Motor Voter Act on its head. The Motor Voter Act says that before someone is removed from the voting rolls, they must be given written notice, and then have two elections to correct the removal at the ballot place before the removal is finalized. The Motor Voter Act stands for the principle that before you take away someone's right to vote, you give them a chance to prove they are still legally voting in the correct place. The bill as written, however, says if you fail to vote in two elections, you can be purged from the rolls. In other words, if you do not vote, you can lose the right to vote. Our motion simply states that the rules of the Motor Voter Law should continue to govern.”