Statement by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney
on Equal Protections of Voting Rights Act of 2001

March 13, 2001

Last November's elections revealed deep flaws in our country's voting system and highlighted a crisis which must be addressed quickly and comprehensively. The right to vote is a fundamental right—not a privilege reserved for the well-educated, the affluent or the well-connected. We need election reform, and we need it now.

Last year—when Florida erupted with complaints of confusing ballots, flawed voting equipment, under-equipped polling personnel, erroneous registration records and blatant intimidation at the polls—our Florida AFL-CIO office was inundated with calls from members and community members. Emerging from that experience, we have a tremendous challenge and opportunity to wage a new voting rights movement. And we're proud to do that with Senator Dodd, Representative Conyers and the growing concerned group here today.

The AFL-CIO, representing 13 million working men and women, has renewed our commitment to making sure that the right to vote is a reality for every American. Along with our 66 national and international union affiliates, we are actively involved at the state as well as the federal level to reform the flawed election system.

In January of this year, our Executive Council set forth four goals for fixing our nation's election system:

First, voter registration should be simple, easy and designed to encourage voting. Universal registration at age 18 and same-day registration and voting are ways to meet this goal.

Second, voting itself should be easy. Currently, many Americans vote before and after work and are forced to juggle work, family and their civic duty. We can build our voting system around working people's needs.

Third, we must ensure that every vote gets counted. Many hundreds of thousands of votes were never counted in 2000 because of bad equipment and problems at the polls. This is a national disgrace.

Finally, voting rights should be aggressively enforced and penalties for violating voting rights should be high.

The AFL-CIO urges legislation that fundamentally reforms our current system. Only one legislative proposal—a measure being introduced by Senator Dodd and by Representative Conyers in the House—goes far enough. The Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001 would guarantee that voters can verify that they voted the way they intended to, makes sure voters not on the rolls can cast provisional ballots, and ensures that voters will get sample ballots and voting instructions before Election Day. We endorse this legislation and will work for its passage.

History demands that we bring our public elections system into the 21st century. Anything less is a threat to our democracy.