Honoring the Voting Rights Act by increasing voter participation

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ABOVE PHOTO:  President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, look on.

August 6 marked the 52nd anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, one of the most significant achievements of the Civil Rights Movement.

The law took a landmark step to protect and ensure our right to vote, but our work on the state and federal levels to ensure voting rights continues to this day. We are still taking steps to improve voter access on the state level.

June 13, 2017: Senator Hughes Remarks Voting Access Improvement

Senator Hughes said, he and his colleagues introduced a comprehensive voting access improvement package aimed at increasing voter participation in Pennsylvania.

The measures address the following:

• Automatic voter registration
• Same-day voter registration
• Time off for voting
• Early voting
• Notification of voter registration eligibility for younger Pennsylvanians
• Absentee ballot voting

Voter Access Legislation Introduced:

Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/ Montgomery): Automatic voter registration (Senate Bill 608)

Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh/Northampton): Same-day voter registration (Senate Bill 282), time off for voting (Senate Bill 284)

Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny): Early voting (Senate Bill 440)

Ryan Bizzarro (D-Erie): Same-day voter registration (House Bill 101)

Tim Briggs (D-Montgomery): Voter pre-registration (House Bill 1145)

Tony DeLuca (D-Allegheny): Same-day voter registration (House Bill 945), early voting (House Bill 946)

Edward Gainey (D-Allegheny): Automatic voter registration (House Bill 193)

Neal Goodman (D-Schuylkill): No excuse absentee voting (House Bill 1138)

Robert Matzie (D-Beaver/Allegheny): Vote by mail

Eddie Day Pashinski (D-Luzerne): Early voting (House Bill 427)

Christopher Rabb (D-Philadelphia): Omnibus election reform (House Bill 1465)

Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia): No excuse absentee voting and early voting (House Bill 1117)

Pam Snyder (D-Washington/Fayette/Snyder): No excuse absentee voting and early voting (House Bill 75)

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