Contact: Jess Kamm Broomell (412) 562-2446, jkamm@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) – USW International President Leo W. Gerard issued the following statement today, marking the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act:
“The Voting Rights Act is one of the most significant pieces of legislation in our nation’s history, helping thousands of people who had been wrongly disenfranchised exercise their rights at the ballot box.
“Sadly, Republican lawmakers continue to wage war on the democratic process, using flimsy and unfounded excuses like ‘voter fraud’ to institute policies that restrict access to the polls.
“These efforts to limit voting among minorities, as well as students, the poor, the elderly and other groups demonstrate all too forcefully how important the Voting Rights Act remains today.
“The USW stands with President Obama in his call to fully restore the Voting Rights Act, reinstating the crucial portions that the Supreme Court struck down two years ago.
“We cannot call ourselves a true democracy until everyone is guaranteed access to his or her constitutional right to vote.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors. For more information: http://www.usw.org/.
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