FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 2013

Contact: CJ Frogozo, CJ@FitzGibbonMedia.com, 310 570 2622

Kayla Keller, Kayla@FitzGibbonMedia.com, 281 682 6212

Statement from Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, Rashad Robinson, on DOJ Request to Restore Voting Rights Act in Texas New York – “We commend Attorney General Eric Holder for his decision which is a positive step for the millions of voters whose freedom to vote was placed in jeopardy by the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, this action highlights the greatly reduced power of the Voting Rights Act and demonstrates the need for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the freedom to vote.

“The Supreme Court decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a signature accomplishment of the Civil Rights Movement, is part of a coordinated right-wing attack on the freedom to vote that has placed millions of people of color, women and young people at the mercy of a dysfunctional Congress. Not only was the decision a slap in the faces of thousands of civil rights activists working tirelessly over generations, but it has opened the floodgates for more laws aimed at making it harder for people to vote.

“Within minutes of the Supreme Court decision, Texas Attorney Greg Abbott announced that Texas would reinstate both the most restrictive Voter ID program in the country and a redistricting plan that had already been rejected as racially discriminatory. Moreover, at least 4 other previously covered states also announced plans to enact racially discriminatory voting laws.

“Right wing voter discrimination attempts have reached new heights spilling over to states that weren’t even covered by the VRA before — establishing a new history of racial discrimination in voting precincts across the country.

“The best way to end voter discrimination across the country is a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the freedom to vote for everyone. A constitutional freedom to vote would protect citizens against the continued partisan efforts to manipulate voting laws. It would also provide uniform national standards for elections instead of the patchwork of 13,000 voting districts with different rules.”

In June, ColorOfChange.org launched the website FreeToVote.org to build a broad movement for everyday citizens to pledge their support for an amendment that enshrines the freedom to vote in the United States Constitution. ColorOfChange.org with other partners will provide a roadmap to expand voter participation that will build a movement around various local, state and federal opportunities for voting reform.

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With more than 850,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest online civil rights organization.