The right to vote is the most important right in our democratic system. Why are Congressional Democrats not acting like it? Anti-voter rhetoric is rising in Congress while our federal representatives bend a knee to self-proclaimed King Trump.
Fortunately, the Colorado Legislature is looking to step up locally where Congress is failing.
To kick off the 2025 legislative session, voting rights advocates introduced Senate Bill 1: the Colorado Voting Rights Act.
This bill aims at enshrining the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) into law, with expanded protections.
The 1965 Federal Voting Rights Act, originally crafted to uphold the voting rights of all Americans, now feels like a relic of a bygone era thanks to a series of court decisions that have clipped its wings.
A major setback occurred in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. This section required certain states with histories of racially motivated gerrymandering to obtain pre-clearance from the Department of Justice for redistricting changes.
In short, it was deemed outdated by the Supreme Court.
Many scholars believe this decision has re-fueled racially motivated gerrymandering and has bolstered anti-voter efforts in Washington. This trend represents a significant threat to the principles of democracy in America.
A new example of these efforts is the SAVE Act, introduced by U.S. House Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. Officially, it ostensibly aims to prevent illegal immigrants from voting. However, non-citizens voting in our elections is extremely rare. In 2016, there were only 19 indictments related to voter fraud by non-citizens, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Don’t be misled: the real goal of this bill is to make it harder for citizens to vote via onerous documentation requirements, such as requiring voters to show a passport or a birth certificate at the polls.
Why is that problematic? For starters, about half of our citizens do not have a valid passport. According to the Center for American Progress, roughly 146 million American citizens lack one, nearly equal to the 153 million citizen voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Additionally, if your name has changed — like many married women — even more hurdles arise. More specifically, if your current name does not match your birth certificate and you don’t have a passport of marriage license, you cannot register to vote under SAVE. There is no provision to accept name change documents or marriage certificates and even if those documents are accepted adding an extra hurdle for women to vote is unfair and likely to depress participation. The Center notes that this could affect 68% of married women — nearly 69 million voters.
Are we not past the fight for women’s suffrage?
As a native Texan, I’m not surprised by this bill, and I am certainly not surprised Texas representatives want Texan norms like this to become law nationwide. The Texas legislature has long pushed for voter disenfranchisement laws, turning it into a non-voting state with a turnout rate of only 57% compared to the national average of 64%. This matters because legislation that was once confined to Texas, could now be nationalized, a development Texas voting rights advocates have long cautioned against.
Despite the growing nationwide anti-voting movement, Colorado still has some of the best voting protections. El Paso County Clerk Chuck Broerman has hailed Colorado as the ‘gold standard’ for voting rights. It may seem inconceivable that anyone would strip us of this distinction, but we cannot take that for granted.
If our representatives in Washington D.C. do not address these overreaches by the president and his allies, then our rights here in Colorado are also at risk.
Hope is not a strategy. We must actively ensure that Colorado’s hard-earned rights are not eroded by national politics. Our state’s representatives must be vigilant and proactive, defending our gold standard against any and all threats.
Federal help is not coming. It’s essential that we enshrine our voting rights into Colorado law. I urge our representatives to vote yes on Senate Bill 1. A no vote is against Coloradans and a failure of leadership.
Sierra Rodriguez is a master’s student at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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