Speaking Out: Time to get angry, fight voter suppression

In the last few months, state lawmakers across the U.S. have filed more than 100 bills aimed at limiting voter access and changing procedures on how and who can vote by mail, requiring photo ids, limiting early voting and purging voter rolls, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice.

"I want you to get up right now. Sit up. Go to your windows. Open them and stick your head out and yell: 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!.." That famous quote from the 1976 movie "Network" is what comes to mind when I hear of these widespread voter suppression efforts. On Bloody Sunday during the Selma voting rights march 56 years ago, people were beaten as they fought for voting rights. Knowing that, it makes me mad that some legislatures around the country are still trying to beat back hard-fought voting rights.

In Georgia, we see legislators trying to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting and curtail Sunday voting, which is when many Black residents come out to vote. In a case before the Supreme Court last week, a lawyer arguing for Arizona Voting restrictions, when asked why he supported those restrictions, he acknowledged that it was because the restrictions gave Republicans a competitive advantage. Hearing statements like that, and seeing these voter suppression efforts all over the country enrages me, and I hope that others share my anger.

I have always felt that elections and voting are a fundamental part of our democracy. The more people who come out to vote, the better. Even if my favored candidate in an election did not prevail, if the turnout was good, it at least meant that the results was a better reflection of who the voters wanted to see in office. After all, that is what elections are all about. That is why I have always felt that actions that opened up the right to vote and actions that made it easier to vote were a good thing. That is why the 15th Amendment that said citizens could not be denied the right to vote due to race was so important, That is why the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was important. That is why the 26th Amendment, which gave voting rights to all citizens over 18, was likewise important. And that is why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was so critical in rolling back restrictions that reflected racial discrimination, and required states with a history of racial discrimination to get clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice before imposing any voting restrictions. That part of the law was gutted by the Supreme Court in the 2013 in the Shelby County case. Ever since then, there has been a proliferation of voter suppression actions, which have made it harder to vote. In some situations, lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to strike down the most overzealous restrictions. Groups like the Brennan Center for Justice and Stacy Abrams Fair Fight organization, who continue to wage those battles, should be applauded.

The extent of suppression efforts around the country, however, demands more pervasive action. The U.S. House of Representatives has risen to the occasion and taken action to address voter suppression HR 1. Among many things in the sweeping election reform legislation, it would set national voter registration and mail-in voting standards. It would require secretary of state or chief election official to establish an automatic voter registration program through Driver's Licenses or social security or similar payments in each state. It would guarantee same-day voter registration at early voting sites or at precincts on Election Day. It would require at least 15 days of early voting with some times before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. to facilitate people who could not get off work. It would set standards for purging of voter rolls and many other steps to ensure citizens don't have their voting rights eroded. To get rid of gerrymandering, the bill would also require independent commissions to draw congressional districts with an equal number of Republicans, Democrats and Independents on each commission. HR 1 has been sent to Senate. A similar bill was never called to a vote when Sen. Mitch McConnell was majority leader.

This time, it needs to be passed and get to the president's desk. The House will also be voting on HR 4, which will once again require preclearance of voting restrictions in states with a history of 15 or more discriminatory voting violations in last 25 years. We need to urge the House to get HR4 - known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act - to the Senate, too.

With a Senate that has such close margins, it will be a challenge to secure enough votes to ensure passage of these important election bills due to the Filibuster Rule. Of course they should try to get this done on a bipartisan basis. But due to the importance of voting rights, passage is so critical there may need to be an exception to the Filibuster Rule for Voting Rights bills as was carved out for Judicial nominations, or they will need to allow for passage through the Reconciliation as is allowed for budgetary bills.

We need to let the President and Congress know that they need to do whatever it takes to protect voting rights. If we don't, I hate to think what could happen in the next election cycle. Let's all get angry, and cause some good trouble and demand passage of HR 1 and HR 4. Our Democracy demands no less.

• Elliott Hartstein of Northbrook is an attorney and former village president of Buffalo Grove.