ACLU Releases Roadmap to Protect and Expand Voting Rights Under a Harris Administration

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released Harris on Voting: Increasing Voting Access, Decreasing Voting Discrimination, and Strengthening Democracy today, a memo outlining Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ commitments to protecting and expanding voting rights and how the ACLU will work to ensure that a Harris administration delivers on these commitments if she is elected.

Policy recommendations in the memo include continuing to implement Executive Order 14019 on Promoting Access to Voting, which increases nonpartisan voter registration and education, and continuing to support a successful and accurate 2030 census, which will be used to allocate congressional seats as well as the distribution of billions in public funding. Given that the continued attacks on voting rights have magnified since the Supreme Court struck down key protections of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, the ACLU would push a future Harris administration to build on the Biden-Harris administration’s record of using the power of the federal government to expand voting access and reverse the harm done over the last decade.

“Expanding voting rights is crucial to ensuring every citizen's voice is heard in our democracy,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “Vice President Harris has promised to address long-standing challenges and enhance access to the ballot for all eligible voters. If she is elected, we will use every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to hold her to these commitments and protect and advance voting rights and fair representation at every level of government.”

“We are long overdue to pass critical federal voting rights legislation—like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act—to prevent discrimination in voting, increase access to the ballot, and maintain integrity in our elections,” said Xavier Persad, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. “Every freedom we hold dear is upheld by our right to vote. As we have for decades, the ACLU will continue our efforts to demand our leaders fulfill their obligation to protect our democracy.”

The ACLU’s roadmap released today outlines our plan to push for protecting and expanding voting rights across the country by:

• Passing crucial federal voting rights legislation, if a pro-civil rights majority is elected to Congress. This includes the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (JLVRAA) which restores and strengthens the Voting Rights Act, core provisions in the Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) that remove barriers to voting, the Native American Voting Rights Act (NAVRA) which provides protections to the right to vote for Tribal communities, and the Washington, D.C. Admission Act to grant D.C. statehood.
• Pushing relevant federal agencies to continue implementing Executive Order 14019 on Promoting Access to Voting in the quickest, most effective manner possible. This includes action to implement effective non-partisan voter registration opportunities by the Social Security Administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the U.S. Department of Education. Furthermore, the ACLU will work to ensure that the U.S. Department of Justice under a Harris presidency prioritizes the enforcement of federal voting right protections.
• Demanding that state and local officials protect and strengthen voting rights through law, policy, and practice. Furthermore, the ACLU will hold states accountable for upholding their shared duty to adequately and consistently fund local election administration, providing election officials with the significant resources required to safely and securely run elections and counter mis- and disinformation.
• Continuing to support a successful, useful, and accurate decennial census, which is used to determine the allocation of seats in Congress across states as well as the distribution of billions in public funding for the ensuing decade.

The Harris on Voting memo marks the third of six memos the ACLU is releasing on the Democratic nominee. In addition to voting rights, the memos will focus on abortion, immigration, the criminal legal system, LGBTQ rights, and surveillance. This series follows seven memos the ACLU released on policies of a potential second Trump administration. New memos will be released through August and will be available here.