News Room

SAINT PAUL —On the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon released a video statement. A transcript is below:

“Today is the 60th Anniversary of the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act, which most historians would put on their top 10 list of most consequential acts ever passed by the U.S. Congress. 

What it basically did - in the summer of 1965 - was finally and belatedly level the playing field for all Americans to enjoy the right to vote, many of whom had suffered terrible, terrible discrimination.

Minnesota had a role to play. Minnesota was one of the relatively few states whose congressional delegation voted for it unanimously – the house members, the senators, the Democrats, the Republicans, rural, urban, and suburban, all voted yes.

And what they were saying, when they spoke with one voice was that when it comes to the big moral question – who has the freedom to vote – that the Voting Rights Act was the right answer – ensuring that all eligible voters should vote without discrimination.

Now, the act has suffered some blows to its strength and authority recently in the courts. But, apart from that it remains and endures as a powerful tool against discrimination in voting.

That is our call today - to make sure that everyone in America enjoys a true freedom to vote.”