On the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Martin O’Malley called for a constitutional amendment protecting voting rights while speaking in South Carolina.
The former Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate is trying to get to the left of frontrunner Hillary Clinton, who has also spoken about voting rights in the South.
O’Malley called out Republicans for introducing over 80 bills in the past year that would require photo IDs for voters and reduce early voting. While the GOP does this to prevent voter fraud, Democrats say that it limits disenfranchised voters from accessing the ballot box.
“We know why they’re doing this: because Americans without a photo ID are disproportionately low-income, disabled, minority — and Democratic,” O’Malley said in a statement.
While serving as governor of Maryland, O’Malley signed legislation restoring voting rights to over 50,000 people with felony records, expanded early voting, allowed same-day registration and created an online registration system.
The proposed amendment would overturn the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision to to allow nine (mainly Southern) states to change their election laws without advanced federal approval. Those who opposed the decision feared it would allow states to discriminate against minority voters.
O’Malley asked his supporters to “protect every citizen’s right to vote, once and for all.” He first called for the amendment at a campaign event with black leaders in South Carolina. Black voters helped Barack Obama clinch the Democratic nomination in 2008 and win two presidential elections.
Clinton made voting rights a major issue for her campaign in June when she called for universal voter registration, urging states to adopt a minimum national standard of 20 days of early in-person voting, while speaking at historically black Texas Southern University.
“Many Americans don’t realize that the U.S. Constitution does not affirmatively guarantee the right to vote,” O’Malley stated. ” Passing a constitutional amendment that enshrines that right will give U.S. courts the clarity they need to strike down Republican efforts to suppress the vote.”
