Congresswoman Stansbury Statement on Voting Rights

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) released the following statement after the Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act were blocked in the U.S. Senate by a Republican-led filibuster:

“Our country and our democracy are at a crossroads. Tonight’s vote in the Senate was at its core a moral question—does our nation stand on the right side of history and protect the fundamental rights of our communities, or do we let the filibuster stand in the way. Tonight, Senate Republicans stood with the filibuster, blocking legislation to protect and restore the fundamental voting rights of our communities.

“The Senate filibuster has a long and dark history of being used to block legislation on civil rights and voting rights. Yet, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate have reauthorized the Voting Rights Act five times, including most recently under President George W. Bush. But tonight, Senate Republicans put politics and power first before our democracy.  

“Across the United States, dozens of voter suppression laws have been introduced in state legislatures, with 34 laws enacted in 19 states. These laws are clearly aimed at restricting access to the ballot box, disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous, Latino and other communities that have borne the historical weight of voting restrictions. The failure of the U.S. Senate to restore the Voting Rights Act and protect our communities from these restrictions is a failure of our nation’s moral compass.”

“Protecting the right to vote is fundamental to our democracy. We will keep fighting until these bills are passed.”

Rep. Stansbury is a cosponsor of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Protecting Our Democracy Act, and voted to pass the Freedom to Vote Act out of the House of Representatives last week.