Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (43rd District of California)
Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement condemning Donald Trump and his Administration’s dangerous efforts to use federal agencies and sensitive government data to expand control over voter eligibility verification, including the use of Social Security, DHS, USCIS, passport, and DMV records as part of a sweeping escalation of federal involvement in elections.
“In one of his many desperate attempts to interfere in our elections, Trump issued an executive order this year aimed at making it harder for Americans to use mail-in ballots. The order attempts to shift authority over elections from the states and into the hands of the federal government by directing federal agencies to determine who can and can’t vote, and other actions. This is an unlawful overreach that is a direct attack on our Constitution, and it undermines a core tenet of our democracy—free and fair elections.
Unfortunately, earlier this month, the Trump loyalists sitting on the Supreme Court dealt another devastating blow to the Voting Rights Act making it easier for states in the Jim Crow south to minimize the voting power of Black and other minority voters. Today, a MAGA judge allowed Trump’s dangerous attempt to take over our elections to proceed. This decision must be appealed, and the courts must immediately determine whether Trump’s order would violate the law and our Constitution.
Trump knows that Americans reject his failed economic policies. He knows that his agenda has fueled an affordability crisis where one in ten Americans don’t have enough food to eat, which is even higher than during the pandemic. He knows that gas is at its highest price in the last four years. Rather than try to ease Americans financial pain, Trump is busy doing everything he can to take control of the elections this fall, including by targeting our most underserved and underrepresented communities.
Make no mistake, this is a dangerous and deliberate attempt to undermine the integrity of our elections and silence the voices of the American people. Time and time again, Donald Trump has shown us that he does not believe in democracy unless it guarantees him power. But in America, presidents do not choose voters. Voters choose their presidents. No president is above the Constitution, nor has the right to rewrite the rules of our democracy for his own political gain. Rest assured, I and my Democratic colleagues will remain steadfast in our fight against this abuse of power in the courts, in Congress, and alongside the people on the ground in communities across this country because the right to vote is sacred, and we will never allow it to be stolen, suppressed, or manipulated.”
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