Today, LDF Deputy Director of Litigation Deuel Ross testified before the United States House Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections at its hearing entitled “American Confidence in Elections: Ensuring Every Eligible American Has the Opportunity to Vote – and for their Vote to Count According to Law.” Mr. Ross testified on the need to improve all Americans’ confidence in our electoral system by addressing concrete barriers to the ballot and other impediments to ensuring equal participation in our political system.
“When people no longer go vote in racially discriminatory electoral districts, when states do not erect unnecessary and often arbitrary restrictions on voting, and when the ease of a person’s ability to exercise their fundamental right to vote no longer depends upon which state she happens to live in, confidence in elections will rightly rise, and our nation will draw closer to its highest ideals.”
Mr. Ross’ testimony focused on the experiences of Black voters across the country as Black voters’ experiences serve as an essential barometer as to whether our nation lives up to its ideals as an inclusive, multi-racial democracy. His testimony draws on LDF’s eight-decade history litigating voting rights cases as well as on-the-ground experience working to protect the vote in communities across seven states in the 2020 and 2022 elections. His testimony provided historical and present context and enumerated specific ways that the 2022 elections failed Black voters. Mr. Ross also proposed solutions for Congress to address these problems through much-needed legislation.
Read the full written testimony here.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
