Subcommittee on Elections Ranking Member Sewell Opening Remarks for Elections Hearing on Ensuring Every Eligible American Has the Opportunity to Vote

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"Good afternoon, and thank you, Chairwoman Lee for welcoming us today.

The topic of today's hearing is an important one, ensuring that every eligible American has the opportunity to vote.

For far too long, that has not been the reality of our electoral process.

Since the founding of our country large segments of the American people have been intentionally excluded from being eligible to vote. And their access to the ballot box purposely curtailed.

Enslaved persons, Indentured Servants, Native Americans, and women were all denied the right to vote and this is not in the distant past.

The 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote was ratified in 1920. The 23rd amendment allowing residents of the District of Columbia--the capital of the United States--to vote for President and Vice President was passed in 1961. Poll taxes of any sort or taxes to vote were outlawed by the 24th amendment in 1964.

The voting age was lowered to 18 by the 26th Amendment in 1971, ensuring that the men and women serving in our military are able to participate in electing the leaders who would send them into harm's way.

The Voting Rights Act, a law that addressed systemic discrimination and barriers in voting, was enacted in 1965, less than 60 years ago. And it was amended, expanded, and extended by Congress five times--in 1970, in 1975, in 1982, in 1992, and 2006--because barriers to ensuring every eligible American can cast ballots still exist.

It's also worth noting that every congressional reauthorization of the VRA was signed by a Republican president. Voting Rights and ensuring and expanding access to the franchise should not be partisan.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Shelby decision undermining the Voting Rights Act, we must recommit ourselves to the ideals that every American should have a voice in our democracy.

We must celebrate increases in voter participation, not respond with restrictions on voter access.

Additionally, overall voter turnout numbers in and of themselves do not tell the full story--voter disparities by race continues to exist.

You need only look below the surface to see a more fulsome picture. Many of the voting laws passed in the wake of the 2020 election, go to the very heart of the integrity of our elections, directly targeted methods voters of color used in 2020.

Americans' confidence in elections is eroded when their leaders falsely claim over and over again that an election was rigged or fraudulent.

Rather than using lies and falsehoods to justify unnecessary voting restrictions, Congress should be focused on expanding access to the ballot and ensuring voters in every state have access to the franchise.

The voters of Alabama, and every other state, should have access to every possible venue and avenue for casting a ballot, and should not have fewer options for voting simply because of where they live.

Ensuring every eligible American can cast a ballot is a goal we should all strive for--it is the bedrock of our representative democracy.

Congress must work to pass pro-voter, pro-democracy legislation and policies, rather than using unproven claims of widespread fraud to roll back the access that many Americans have fought so hard for.

Many Americans like those in my district and in my hometown of Selma, Alabama. Where John Lewis and so many others shed blood on a bridge in my hometown for the equal right of every American to vote.

I look forward to hearing today's witnesses and the discussion to follow.

Thank you, Chairwoman Lee, and I yield back the balance of my time."

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