Vanita Gupta Emphasizes Voting Rights in Testimony on Democracy Reform

January 29, 2019

For Immediate Release
Contact: Shin Inouye, 202.869.0398, [email protected]

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee today in its hearing on H.R. 1, the “For the People Act of 2019.” In her testimony on behalf of the civil and human rights coalition, Gupta emphasizes the importance of fixing our democracy and protecting and strengthening voting rights for all.

“Voting, and the ability to participate in democracy, is a racial justice issue. It is a civil rights issue. And we are overdue for change,” Gupta says in her testimony. “The For the People Act is a bold, comprehensive reform package that offers solutions to a broken democracy.”

Her testimony outlines the bill’s crucial components to protecting everyone’s right to vote, including a commitment to restore the Voting Rights Act and the key preclearance provision that the Shelby County decision struck down, voting rights restoration for people with felony convictions, provisions to end gerrymandering, and ending misinformation and voter intimidation. Her full testimony can be found here.

A live stream 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 200 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.