Senate Bill Would Outlaw Notorious Voter Suppression Tactic

11 Senators Introduce Legislation to Sharply Limit Frivolous Challenges to Voter Eligibility

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
March 5, 2009

Washington, D.C. - Political operatives would be unable to challenge a person's right to vote (or register to vote) based solely on unreliable information if a Senate bill introduced today becomes law. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Bill Nelson (D-FL), John Kerry (D-MA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) again offered legislation aimed at preventing the practice of "voter caging," a voter suppression tactic which has often been used to target minority voters.

"Last year's historic election proved that the right of an eligible voter to cast his or her vote is essential to our democracy," said Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former U.S. Attorney and Rhode Island Attorney General.

"The practice of voter caging chips away at core protections in our democracy. The very legitimacy of our government is dependent on the access all Americans have to the political process. Rooting out partisan voter caging tactics requires us to give federal officials the tools and resources they need to investigate and prosecute organized efforts to suppress the right to vote. This bill will do exactly that," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

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