59 Years of the Voting Rights Act and Still Lots More To Do
The Voting Rights Act, signed 59 years ago, transformed US elections by empowering millions, especially Black Americans, to vote and have a say in our democratic process. VoteRiders continues this legacy by helping voters overcome ballot box barriers created by voter ID laws to ensure all eligible voters can fully participate in our democracy.
BY LAUREN KUNIS, CEO, VOTERIDERS — AUGUST 6, 2024
The Voting Rights Act — signed 59 years ago today — transformed elections in this country. Millions of Americans, many of them Black, were newly empowered to exercise their right to vote and have a real say in our democracy.
The Voting Rights Act represents the promise of the United States. Our votes are all equal and we all get to have a say in who governs us and how we tackle the most important issues of our time.
The Voting Rights Act aimed to remove barriers to the ballot box. Today, the work continues. Voter ID rules have created new and challenging barriers, but VoteRiders is laser-focused on helping people prepare to vote with the information and ID help they need.
Year in and year out since 2012, we reach millions of voters online and in their communities with critical information about confusing voter ID rules. If a voter doesn’t have the ID they need, we work with them one-on-one to secure their ID. It’s a process that can sometimes take months and hundreds of dollars, including securing missing documents like birth certificates and making follow-up appointments at ID-issuing offices.
As long as there are voter ID laws, our work is necessary to ensure all voters can participate in our democracy. And today, more states than ever before have voter ID laws in place.
VoteRiders is named in honor of the Freedom Riders, who put everything on the line to ensure Americans could exercise their right to vote. VoteRiders carries forward their legacy by removing the barriers to the ballot box created by voter ID laws.
Today, I hope you take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go to realize the true promise of our democracy. Thank you for being an important part of our movement to ensure all eligible voters can participate.
