ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon on Supreme Court Decision in Shelby County v. Holder

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 25th, 2013
CONTACT:  ACLU of Florida Media Office, (786) 363 - 2737 media@aclufl.org

The following statement on the decision may be attributed to Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida:

 “The Voting Rights Act is one of the most important civil rights laws in our nation’s history and has been the foundation of work to protect the right of Floridians to vote from its passage in 1965 all the way to the 2012 election. In an era when voter suppression is becoming more frequent and more sophisticated, today’s decision leaves Americans in places with the most shameful history of discrimination at the voting booth dangerously vulnerable to attacks on their ability to be a part of our democracy. The ball is now in Congress’s court to act as quickly as possible to ensure the federal government has the tools it needs to protect the vote in places – like Florida –  that have worked so hard to frustrate the fundamental right of their citizens to vote.”

More information about Shelby County v. Holder is available here: http://www.aclu.org/voting-rights/shelby-county-v-holder

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