Last week marked the 10th anniversary of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by SCOTUS. The Shelby County Decision opened the floodgates to voting discrimination that targets people of color, native Americans, people in poorer areas and many more.
For those of us who live in areas like Santa Cruz County, where voting is relatively straightforward, it is easy to overlook these attacks. However, we must not disregard the countywide impact of anti-voter legislation that is being pushed in other parts of our country.
These laws diminish our ability to fight the climate crisis, support women’s rights, protect the LGBTQ community and much more.
We must continue to press our elected officials to make federal protection for voting rights a priority and pass it now.
Our democracy is built on our votes and will break without them.
Natalie Beebe
Aptos
