Senator Coons participates in discussion on civil rights

Senator Coons, a dedicated advocate for civil rights, participated in a roundtable discussion Wednesday to discuss priorities and the path forward on a number of civil rights issues. The meeting was hosted by the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee and featured more than 20 leaders in the labor, LGBT, and civil rights communities, including NAACP President and Chief Executive Officer Ben Jealous and Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin.

The roundtable highlighted the calamitous effects of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Shelby County v. Holder to strike down the crucial Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The discussion also focused on employment discrimination, comprehensive immigration reform, Republican obstruction of confirmation for executive and judicial nominees, and marriage equality.

“We have a number of joyful days now happening across this country – wedding days – where couples are able to join in legal union without the barrier of DOMA to prevent them from enjoying the full blessings of marriage,” Senator Coons said. “But we have had a very tough Supreme Court term. The doors of justice are steadily closing for those who would go to courts and seek relief whether it’s through class action or defense against wage abuse or harassment in the workplace. We face election days this year and next year without a functioning Voting Rights Act. If we don’t come together and act, we will see states change laws in ways that will deny access to the ballot for people all across this country.”

The discussion followed the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decisions dismantling the Voting Rights Act, but extending federal benefits to married same-sex couples. It also overlapped with an ongoing clash over the confirmation of executive and judicial nominees — including those to the important D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals — the markup of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the House’s consideration of comprehensive immigration reform.

Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said that the Supreme Court’s voting rights decision “is not a minority problem” but rather is “a problem for democratic participation in our country.”

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler warned participants, “We could be looking at a Labor Day with a non-functioning NLRB and unenforceable labor law” due to Republican obstruction of confirmation for NLRB nominees and Secretary of Labor nominee Thomas Perez.

What We’re Reading: Waiting Times at Ballot Boxes Draw Scrutiny

The New York Times published an article Monday on the extraordinarily long lines at polling places last November and how members of Congress and the president are working to prevent similar wait times in future elections. 

Shortly after the election, Senator Coons introduced the FAST Voting Act to make voting faster and more accessible to all voters.

Several recent polls and studies suggest that long waiting times in some places depressed turnout in 2012 and that lines were longest in cities, where Democrats outnumber Republicans. In a New York Times/CBS News poll taken shortly after Election Day, 18 percent of Democrats said they waited at least a half-hour to vote, compared with 11 percent of independents and 9 percent of Republicans.

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White House officials have told Congressional leaders that the president plans to press for action on Capitol Hill, and Democrats say they expect him to highlight the issue in his State of the Union address next week. Democrats in the House and Senate have already introduced bills that would require states to provide online voter registration and allow at least 15 days of early voting, among other things.

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Fourteen states are also considering whether to expand early voting, including the battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Virginia, according to FairVote, a nonprofit group that advocates electoral change. Florida, New York, Texas and Washington are looking at whether to ease registration and establish preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Studies have shown that, due to the long lines at the polls in 2012, hundreds of thousands of voters left without casting their ballot. The longer waits were predominately in cities with higher concentrations of voters, with some voters in Miami having to wait more than eight hours to cast their ballot.

Click here to learn more about the FAST Voting Act.

Click here to read the full article on the New York Time’s website. 

New York Times makes case for election reform

Just days after Senator Coons introduced the FAST Voting Act to help speed up an array of reforms to our nation's elections, the New York Times' editorial board weighed in to make the case for election reform and endorse the FAST Voting Act.

While President Obama was delivering his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday, Nov. 7, people were still standing in line in Florida to vote. Thousands had waited hours to vote in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, some in the cold, some giving up wages to do so. In a spontaneous aside — “by the way, we have to fix that” — the president acknowledged the unnecessary hardship of casting a vote in the United States and established a goal that he now has an obligation to address.

The long lines can be shortened with commitments from Washington, as well as state and local governments, but they are just the most glaring symptom of a deeply broken democratic process. In too many states, it’s also needlessly difficult to register to vote. States controlled by Republicans continue to erect partisan impediments to participation. And the process for choosing a candidate remains bound to unlimited and often secret campaign donations that are bound to lead to corruption.

The editorial outlined three steps for improving our nation's elections, including making it easier to vote:

Congress also can provide financial incentives to the states to do the job right. A bill introduced recently by Senator Christopher Coons, a Democrat of Delaware, would give grants to states that make registration easy, including allowing same-day registration; allow early voting; require no excuses for voting absentee; properly train poll workers; and provide sufficient polling places.

Click here to read the Times' full editorial.

Read the full text of the FAST Voting Act

Senator Coons introduced the Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Voting Act of 2012 in the Senate on Thursday to try to speed up much-needed reforms to our nation's elections. You can read the full text of the legislation below.

Senator Warner joins Senator Coons on FAST Voting Act

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia has signed on as a cosponsor of Senator Coons' Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Voting Act of 2012. Senator Warner went to the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to talk about the bill and why it's important to our democracy. Watch below: