Voting should be easy. But instead, many states make it hard for people to vote. We have all heard stories about polling places running out of ballots, computer problems causing delays, and...
It’s clear: Our election system is under attack. So is the right to vote.
I’ve got a new plan to fight back.
We can make voting in America easy, efficient, and secure from foreign and domestic threats — but we can only make it happen if we fight side by side.
Voting should be easy. But instead, many states make it hard for people to vote. We have all heard stories about polling places running out of ballots, computer problems causing delays, and extremely long lines preventing working families from voting. It’s a messy and inefficient system thoroughly unsuited to the greatest democracy in the world.
And on top of these administrative issues, racist and partisan officials deliberately seek to stop citizens — especially communities of color — from exercising the right to vote. We need a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to vote and to have that vote counted, but we also need to take action now.
Here’s my plan:
1. Federal elections will have state-of-the-art federal machines, federal ballots, and federal security.
Right now, districts all over the country use dated machines that are easily hackable and have no paper trail. No more. The federal government will replace every voting machine in the country with state-of-the-art equipment and mandate a single uniform federal ballot. And we will lock all federal voting technology systems behind a security firewall like it’s Fort Knox.
2. Federal standards for federal elections.
We have 8,000 election jurisdictions across the country running elections with little to no federal standards — and errors are everywhere. No more.
We will have federal standards to ensure everyone is able to vote, including mandating automatic and same-day registration, early voting, and vote by mail. My plan will give states cutting-edge voting equipment and election security protocols, all paid for by the federal government, and states will be required to follow all federal standards for federal elections.
States who also choose to meet these requirements in their state elections can work through federal-state partnership agreements to have those elections fully funded by the federal government, too — and we’ll give them a bonus for achieving high voter turnout rates. And in areas where politicians refuse to follow the law and disenfranchise voters, the federal government will take action to guarantee that every American has the fundamental right to vote.
3. We will eliminate voter suppression and make sure every American is able to cast their vote.
My plan will mean no more arbitrary voter purges. States will be banned from removing voters from the election rolls unless the voter requests to be removed.
We will make Election Day a national holiday, and all federal elections will have a minimum of 15 days of early voting, expanded voting hours, the option to vote with a sworn statement of identity instead of an ID, convenient polling locations, and voting by mail. We will make sure that those who have served their time in prison and paid their debt to society are able to vote.
And we will pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Native American Voting Rights Act to shut down discriminatory practices that have gone on for too long.
Enough is enough. It’s time to make voting in the greatest democracy in the world easy, convenient, and accessible. It’s time to secure our elections from all threats, foreign and domestic, and make sure that every American is able to have their vote counted.
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