Durbin Calls Out Republican Efforts To Make Voting More Difficult For American Citizens

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today participated in a Democratic spotlight hearing hosted by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) entitled “Protecting the Future of American Democracy: An Examination of Trump and Partisan Attacks on Voting and Elections.” The hearing focused on election integrity and the ongoing attempts by the Trump Administration and Republicans to impose significant burdens on eligible American voters.

Durbin began by asking Nicole Meek, an impacted voter, about the voter participation gap between military voters and their civilian counterparts. As the granddaughter of a Coast Guardsman, daughter of a Marine, and spouse to an active-duty Airman for over a decade, Ms. Meek is deeply committed to serving veterans and military families. Having navigated five military moves and supported her family through four deployments, she understands the unique challenges faced by the active-duty military community. Ms. Meek is an active member of the Secure Family Initiative’s Voting Ambassador Program, a nonpartisan military voter educational program that strives to close the voter participation gap between Uniformed and Overseas voters and civilian voters.

“Ms. Meek, what a testimony you’ve given to us. We ask a lot of military families—sacrifices far beyond what we are individually asked to do,” Durbin said. “I have some data here that suggests military voters are 27 percent less likely to have voted than their civilian counterparts. That really troubles me… is this a common discussion among military families when it comes to election time?”

Ms. Meek responded that military families are confused about how to vote when the time comes and that was all before President Trump’s executive order on elections, which would disenfranchise countless service members and military families.

Durbin then asked Celina Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of the League of Women Voters, about Republicans’ Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act—a draconian piece of legislation that seeks to purge eligible voters from databases, allow for the prosecution of election officials, and effectively ban online and mail voter registration under the auspices of “solving” the threat of noncitizen voting in federal elections—which is already a crime.

The League of Women Voters has also filed a legal challenge to President Trump’s recently signed executive order, which is patently unconstitutional and attempts to empower the Executive Branch with the ability to declare by fiat the “time, place, and manner” of holding elections—despite the Constitution’s clear language providing that power to Congress and the states.

“Ms. Stewart, I think about the League of Women Voters as being one of the most informative, but placid organizations I’ve ever dealt with. And here you are filing a lawsuit. Do you really believe that the SAVE Act discriminates against women?” Durbin asked.

Ms. Stewart responded, “absolutely.” The SAVE Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to require Americans to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, which includes a birth certificate, U.S. passport, naturalization paperwork, and certain versions of the Real ID that indicate citizenship. For the tens of millions of American women who are married and have taken their spouse’s name, their birth certificates no longer match the names they use today. Many argue that these changes could make it harder for married women to vote.

Durbin then asked Mr. Dean Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, about how the documentary proof of citizenship required by Republicans’ SAVE Act would impact citizens’ ability to register or re-register to vote. In his role, Mr. Logan is responsible for registering voters; maintaining voter files; administering federal, state, local, and special elections; and verifying initiatives, referenda, and recall petitions.

“Mr. Logan, just how much of a hardship would this documentary evidence turn out to be?” Durbin asked.

Mr. Logan responded, “I think the way the Act is written implies a significant administrative burden on all election offices… and it would likely drive turnout down.”

Finally, Durbin asked Mr. Logan about the criminal and civil liabilities the SAVE Act creates for election officials in their professional capacity. Amidst record distrust of and threats toward election officials, including poll workers, Republicans’ SAVE Act would create criminal penalties (fines and up to five years in federal prison) for those who may inadvertently provide a noncitizen with the paperwork to register to vote.

“The penalties of the SAVE Act in terms of election officials, your thoughts on that?” Durbin asked.

Mr. Logan responded, “I think that [the possibility of criminal penalties], layered on top of the pressure and the threats that have been made against election officials in this country over the last four and eight years would create a very challenging environment to recruit, retain, and keep election officials in positions.”

Video of Durbin’s questions in the hearing is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s questions in the hearing is available here.

Durbin has led the introduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Shelby County decision in 2013—which crippled the federal government’s ability under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to prevent discriminatory changes to voting laws and procedures—states across the country have unleashed a torrent of voter suppression schemes that have systematically disenfranchised tens of thousands of American voters. The Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich delivered yet another blow to the Voting Rights Act, by making it significantly harder for plaintiffs to win lawsuits under the landmark law against discriminatory voting laws or procedures.

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