I have read the election laws of every State in the Union, from Alabama to Wyoming, showing that the States now have, on their statute books and in their constitutions, provisions to protect the right to vote. The accuracy of the statutes which I have just recited is confirmed by the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress. No one can say that any State, from Alabama through Wyoming, does not have statutes to protect the right to vote. The bill before the Senate is called a right-to-vote bill. Why is it called that? Every State has statutes to protect the right to vote. The sovereign States are protecting their citizens in the right to vote. Yet there is a big cry and a big hue about a voting law. As a matter of fact, the only thing that instigated this bill was the desire of both parties, the Democratic and the Republican, to play to minority votes. That is the purpose of the bill. It is purely political. Why do we need a Federal law when every State has a statute to protect the right to vote? And who is in a better position to protect the right to vote than the officials of the States?🏁

I have read the election laws of every State in the Union, from Alabama to Wyoming, showing that the States now have, on their statute books and in their constitutions, provisions to protect the right to vote. The accuracy of the statutes which I have just recited is confirmed by the Legislative Reference Service of the Library of Congress. No one can say that any State, from Alabama through Wyoming, does not have statutes to protect the right to vote. The bill before the Senate is called a right-to-vote bill. Why is it called that? Every State has statutes to protect the right to vote. The sovereign States are protecting their citizens in the right to vote. Yet there is a big cry and a big hue about a voting law. As a matter of fact, the only thing that instigated this bill was the desire of both parties, the Democratic and the Republican, to play to minority votes. That is the purpose of the bill. It is purely political. Why do we need a Federal law when every State has a statute to protect the right to vote? And who is in a better position to protect the right to vote than the officials of the States?🏁