Durbin to Chair Hearing Examining New State Voting Laws that Threaten to Suppress Turnout Nationwide
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, today announced a hearing examining a rash of new state voting laws that threaten to suppress turnout across the country. These new laws significantly reduce the number of early voting days, require voters to show restrictive forms of photo identification before voting, and make it harder for volunteer organizations to register new voters. Supporters of these laws argue that they will reduce the risk of voter fraud. The overwhelming evidence, however, indicates that voter impersonation fraud is virtually non-existent and that these new laws will make it harder for hundreds of thousands of elderly, disabled, minority, young, rural, and low income Americans to exercise their right to vote.
The hearing will be held on Thursday, September 8, at 2:00 pm in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington.
Witnesses will include: Judith Brown Dianis, Co-Director of the Advancement Project; Professor Justin Levitt, Loyola Law School; and Hans van Spakovsky, Heritage Foundation.
The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights was formed by merging the Constitution Subcommittee and the Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee, which Durbin previously chaired. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over all constitutional issues, and all legislation and policy related to civil rights, civil liberties and human rights. The Ranking Member of the Subcommittee is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
The hearing will be webcast live at the Senate Judiciary Committee website.
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