Patrick Leahy: “today, I join Senators Obama, Schumer, Cardin, Feinstein, Feingold, Clinton, and Kerry to introduce the Deceptive…”

“today, I join Senators Obama, Schumer, Cardin, Feinstein, Feingold, Clinton, and Kerry to introduce the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007, a measure that would create new protections and expand existing protections against the use of deceptive practices in elections. There are few things as critical to the fabric of our Nation, and to American citizenship, as voting. The right to vote and to have your vote count is a foundational right, like our first amendment rights, because it secures the effectiveness of other protections. The legitimacy of our government is dependent on the access all Americans have to the political process. We saw last year in nearly 20 hearings in the House and Senate on the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act that there is a continuing need for the vital voting rights protections that landmark civil rights law provides for all Americans. But our need to protect the effective access of voters to the political process does not stop with those vital protections against discrimination. I am concerned about increasing efforts on behalf of some candidates and political parties to interfere with recent elections and undermine the participation of many voters.”