(DailyChive.com) – At a recent commemoration of the Selma civil rights march, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared alongside Vice President Kamala Harris. During the event, Garland stated his commitment to combating voter ID laws, denouncing them as tactics that disadvantage minorities.
Reflecting on the history of voting rights for black Americans since the abolition of slavery, Garland asserted that progress has been inconsistent, with voter ID laws increasingly making it difficult for eligible voters to exercise their civic rights.
In his speech at Selma’s Tabernacle Baptist Church, Garland listed several factors he believes make voting difficult, such as rearranging voting districts that disadvantage minorities and changes in voting administration that reduce the authority of locally elected officials.
Garland further disclosed that he has increased the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division workforce. He described voter integrity laws as too restrictive, including those concerning voter ID requirements, use of drop boxes, and mail-in voting.
While polling indicates that a majority of Americans, including 60 percent of Democrats, support some form of voter ID laws, Garland emphasized the ongoing assault on the right to vote in the United States, mainly targeting black voters. He highlighted decisions by both the Supreme Court and lower courts since 2006 that have weakened the 1965 Voting Rights Act, landmark legislation passed in response to the violent police attack on unarmed demonstrators, including the late civil rights leader John Lewis, during the Bloody Sunday march.
He further stressed the persistent struggle to ensure the voting rights of black Americans and other people of color, citing ID requirements, gerrymandering, and restrictions on early voting predominantly in Republican states as ongoing challenges.
Vice President Kamala Harris, set to address the annual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, is expected to honor the civil rights movement’s legacy and encourage Americans to continue fighting for fundamental freedoms. The White House described the event as an opportunity to reflect on the progress made since the violent events of fifty-nine years ago, which helped catalyze support for the Voting Rights Act.
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