AFT President Randi Weingarten: Trump’s Voting Commission Was About Voter Intimidation and Suppression

WASHINGTON—Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten responding to President Trump’s move to disband his voter suppression commission:

“The right to vote is our most sacred right in a democracy and the foundation of a government of, by and for the people. The president of the United States should do everything in his power to promote and strengthen that right. But President Trump has spent months attacking and undermining this fundamental right through baseless accusations about voter fraud and by pushing a commission with the sole purpose of intimidation and voter suppression. Any legitimate voting commission would deal with the systemic disenfranchisement of black and brown voters, the Supreme Court’s shredding of the Voting Rights Act and the myriad ways right-wing politicians have put up barriers to suppress the vote in state after state. Good riddance to this sham of a commission, but we must remain vigilant because this president and Congress, and the right-wing interests that fund them, won’t stop their efforts to suppress and intimidate voters.”