NEW YORK: Closing out a week of commemorating progress from the Civil Rights Movement, President Barack Obama sharply criticised Republicans for leading efforts in some parts of the country to prevent citizens from voting.
Obama’s administration has challenged states that have implemented voter ID laws and other restrictions in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that struck down part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, designed to prevent discrimination at the polls.
Strict voting rights laws are said to disproportionately affect minorities and lower-income Americans, many of whom tend to vote for Democratic candidates.
“The stark, simple truth is this: The right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the Voting Rights Act became law nearly five decades ago,” Obama told a meeting of the National Action Network, a group founded by civil rights leader and MSNBC television anchor Reverend Al Sharpton.
“Across the country, Republicans have led efforts to pass laws making it harder, not easier, for people to vote,” he said.
Last year the Obama administration sued North Carolina to block rules including a requirement for voters to show photo identification at the polls. The Justice Department also sued to keep Texas from carrying out a voter identification requirement enacted in 2011. Proponents of such rules argue they are needed to prevent voter fraud.
North Carolina Republican Governor Pat McCrory signed the state’s sweeping voting changes into law in August, saying: “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote.”
Obama said studies showed abuse was extremely rare. “The real voter fraud is people who try to deny our rights by making bogus arguments about voter fraud,” he said to applause from the crowd.
Reuters
