Terri Sewell joins civil rights pioneer in voting rights roundtable discussion

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voting booths

With Election Day less than 50 days away, Alabama 7th District. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell joined her House and Senate colleagues along with civil rights experts from across the country in a roundtable discussion on voting rights in America.

Set in the LBJ Room in the U.S. Capitol Building, Alabama-native and current U.S. Congressman from Georgia, John Lewis lead the open-press discussion, which underscored the importance of having a fully functioning Supreme Court to hearing voting rights cases.

Lewis, who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr.He was the first speaker during the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march last year, called on the Obama Administration to install federal election observers in polling stations across the United States.

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Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) at the voting rights roundtable, Wed. Sept. 21, 2016. [Photo courtesy of Rep. Terri Sewell]

“We should ask for federal protection,” Lewis said. “The election can be stolen on Election Day at polling places.”

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which required certain states to obtain permission from federal authorities before changing their voting laws.

Lewis continued, “This is our time to speak up and speak out to say that we want to see fair and open elections where everyone can participate.”

Also participating in the roundtable was:

  • Rep. G.K. Butterfield, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
  • Rep. Jim Clyburn
  • Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
  • Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
  • Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)
  • Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
  • Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
  • Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
  • Nancy Zirkin, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
  • Kristen Clarke, National Lawyers Committee
  • Terry Ao Minnis, Asian Americans Advancing Justice
  • Andrea Senteno, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

 

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