ACLU URGES EFFECTIVE ELECTION REFORM
St. Louis, April 4, 2002: Saying pending federal legislation would only hurt those it should be helping, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri today joined a rally held on the steps of the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis to decry the lack of an effective legislative fix to the problems plaguing America's electoral system.
"The 2000 Presidential election calamity shone a bright spotlight on the potholes that mar our current voting system," said Matt LeMieux, Executive Director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. "Unfortunately, rather than fixing the system, Congress is set to vote on a misguided bill that will only serve to further restrict the political voices of students, the elderly, the poor, the disabled, African-Americans and Latinos. Key fixes are needed in the bill."
Specifically, the ACLU calls for a number of modifications to the pending "Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001," sponsored by Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Kit Bond (R-MI). The bill has drawn increasing fire for a number of ostensible "anti-fraud" provisions that critics say would actually make it more difficult for those groups who were disproportionately disenfranchised during the 2000 elections to vote.
Of particular concern are measures that would weaken existing voting laws, require certain types of voters to produce photo identification before voting and delay enforcement of national standards included in the bill until after 2010.
The ACLU's LeMieux said that any election reform bill should focus on fixing the problems highlighted during the 2000 elections, not making new ones. Unfortunately, according to the ACLU, the Bond-McConnell bill actually has the potential to exacerbate the system-wide flaws that prevent many citizens from voting.
"We need a bill that makes it easier for all eligible voters to vote," LeMieux said, "not one that makes it more difficult for people by chasing an imaginary bogeyman of non-existent election fraud."