WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) released the following statement today on the one-year anniversary of the Shelby County v. Holder ruling:
“In the year since the Supreme Court overturned Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) in Shelby County v. Holder, many Republican-led states passed laws that severely diminish Americans right to vote.
“In my home state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory and his party members have destroyed the progressive reputation for voting inclusion the state has long held. With one stroke of his pen, McCrory reversed 50 years of progress toward expanding access to the voting booth, and enacted a new voting law that discriminates against poor, minority, college age, and elderly voters.
“Without question, North Carolina’s voting laws are now the most restrictive in the country. As a young lawyer, I began my legal career advocating for equity in voting. Now, as a Member of Congress, I continue to fight these overtly discriminatory and racially motivated initiatives.
“Those whose chief goal is to maintain political power at the cost of disenfranchising thousands of North Carolinians must be stopped. I continue to call on my congressional colleagues to pass a bill that will fully reinstate the protections of the VRA and undo the discriminatory voting policies enacted in North Carolina and across the country. We must protect the right to vote for all.”