Nydia M. Velazquez: “It's ironic that, as a country, we consistently advocate for other countries to support democratic traditions and…”

“It's ironic that, as a country, we consistently advocate for other countries to support democratic traditions and institutions--and empower their citizens. Sadly, because of the Shelby decision, we are not living up to our own standards. But, we cannot lay all the blame on the Supreme Court. The Court was clear in their ruling While they invalidated the mechanism used to determine what jurisdictions required preclearance--they also suggested that Congress could come up with a standard that passes constitutional muster. Sadly, thanks to Republican inaction, we have failed in that task. Now, we are about to have the first Presidential election--in five decades--without the very basic protections that were enshrined in the Voting Rights Act. What does this mean? It means that some of our most vulnerable populations--communities of color, young people, students and women-- are more likely to encounter obstacles to exercising their most basic right. And, let's be absolutely clear--there remain serious challenges and problems when it comes to protecting voters. By no means are the protections in the VRA out-of-date or no longer necessary. We saw a stark example of this earlier this year--in Brooklyn. In April, some 120,000 voters from the rolls in Kings County--the largest county in the state--were improperly purged from the voter rolls.…”