Fox News - Republicans Abuse Filibuster as Democrats Fight for the Right to Vote

Op-Ed

By Kirsten Gillibrand

There are countless issues where ideological differences between the two parties are understandable, but voting rights shouldn't be one of them.

Every elected official in America should be working to defend the right to vote of every eligible voter--regardless of their political background. That is the cornerstone of our democracy. The voting booth is the one place all Americans are equal and have an equal say in the future of this country and their place in it. No one should be kept from it by politics.

Our founders established a government of the people, by the people, and for the people--but too often, lately, the government has been in the business of deciding which people, exactly, get to participate. That's not democratic and it's not American.

I don't want anyone to have to wait hours in line to cast their vote, or to have to struggle to find a polling place, or make sure they haven't been purged from the voter rolls, whether they are in my party or not. We don't have to agree on who to vote for, but we have to agree on the fundamental importance of the vote.

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