Henderson to Congress: Voting Restrictions Leave Our Democracy in Peril 

Voting Rights News, Voting Rights Resources 06.24,21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Charmaine Riley, [email protected]  

WASHINGTON — Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, will testify today before the Committee on House Administration, Subcommittee on Elections on “Voting in America: A National Perspective on the Right to Vote, Methods of Election, Jurisdictional Boundaries, and Redistricting.” In his testimony, Henderson condemns the attack on voting rights and urges Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to end discriminatory practices against voters, especially from Black and Brown communities. 

“When considering the past year alone, it is painfully clear that the history of police violence with impunity against Black people, and the pandemic’s disproportionate devastation on Black, Brown, Native American, and low-income communities, are an indictment of our failure to rid American institutions of longstanding racism and systemic inequality. When people can’t access the ballot and when they are not represented in the ranks of power, our democracy is in peril,” Henderson says in his testimony. 

“The VRAA will restore the essential portion of the Voting Rights Act that blocks discriminatory voting policies before they go into effect, putting a transparent process in place for protecting the right to vote. It will also bring down the barriers erected to silence Black, Indigenous, young, and new Americans and ensure everyone has a voice in the decisions that impact our lives,” he adds. 

Henderson’s full testimony can be found here.

A livestream of the hearing is available here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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