familiar. >> watch our interview with elaine chao, friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. former attorney general eric holder talked about voting rights at the naacp convention last month. talked about the history of voting rights and decisions that affecting voting rights of minorities today. this is 20 minutes. >> thank you. good afternoon. i want to thank you for that kind introduction. there was a lot of research that went into that. you can come up with the parishes that my father came from and my grandparents came from in barbados. that's good. real good.

it's an honor for him to speak to an organization that we need now more than ever. we have with us today somebody whose name was mentioned before and we need to understand who she is. she was the head of the civil rights division when i was there. shi's the he she's the head of the leadership conference. she's a warrior. she's a person who continues to lead in the civil rights arena. always good to see you. today i'd like to discuss with you a debt that i think we all owe an an issue that threatens the integrity of this great nation and puts in peril the future welfare of our country. 50 years of the passage of the most significant civil rights legislation in our country, 1975, the most basic of american

rights, the right to vote is under siege. as president johnson said when we signed the voting act and i quote here, the right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. at the time when we should be expanding opportunities to cast a ballot, there is a movement in america that attempts to make it more difficult to assess the vote. factually inaccurate and disconnected supreme court decision, too many in this country are trying to make it too hard to make it too difficult for the people. their fellow citizens to exercise their right to be heard at the ballot box. let me start with a basic statement we can all agree. every person attempting to vote should have to show he or she is who they claim to be. too many today this is always the case and in the past our fellow citizens were allows to identify themselves in varied and credible ways.

there has always been a requirement to identify yourself before you could cast a ballot. it's only recently that some states have become overly prescripted in enumerating what is sufficient proof. it has only been in the certain past, certain states and certain legislators and certain governors that this approach has been mandated. and the question is why. well, the usual justification is to preterve tserve the integrit eliminating voting fraud. the new restrictions must be designed to prohibit in-person voting. there is no statistical proof on this, the mantra is said so often, almost robotically, some people have begun to believe

that the issue is real. and with claims of rigged elections based on fraud, again without any proof, this mistaken belief in voter fraud becomes almost hard wired and undoubtedly false claims that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in the last presidential election. studies have shown that actual instance of in-person voter fraud is extremely rare. that's very logical. the penalties associated with voter fraud, usually felonies far outweigh the impact that an individual a group of people might affect. to truly impact an election would require substantial number of people holding themselves as voters that are not. en which would increase the exposure of the scheme.

so such wide spread schemes have been detected. do you actually think that 3 million people could have voteds illegally and this would have gone undetected? it is more likely that an individual be struck by lightning than he will impersonate another voter at the polls. one expert found 31 cases out of one billion ballots cast in the united states in 2000 to 2014. so people of good faith, people grounded in the facts, not ultimate facts which need to be called what they are, lies, really have to -- [ applause ] people of good faith have to ask where is the problem. people tied to real facts have to conclude that there simply isn't the consequential one and that the restrictive voting laws enacted to combat the next to

nothing problem with their serious impacts are not needed. they actually do the opposite by keeping certain groups of people away from the polls. and to employ the language of our president, this is how elections are officially rigged, by the state's government controlled by his party. and the creation of this new federal commission by this administration is just another frightening attempt to suppress the votes of certain americans. make no mistake, this commission led by a fact challenged zealot will come up with bogus reasons why further restrictions should be placed on the right to vote. you have 40 states that have refused to turn over data to this commission. this commission is up to no good. [ applause ] now if there's no fact based

voter impersonation problem, what could be the bas basis. the republic party has put itself on the wrong side of history. history will be harsh in its assessment of these efforts. let' look at some facts. in 2007 an article that ameerd pe appeared in the houston chronicle saying, among republicans it is an article of religious faith that voter fraud is causing us to lose elections. he didn't agree with that but he does agree that requiring voter ids caused a dropoff to add 3% to the republican vote. the state house majority leader listed a few options that would help myth romney in state. he said, and i quote, voter id is going to allow governor

romney to win the state of pennsylvania done, unquote. a federal court in washington, d.c., in throwing out a texas republican supported voter identification law stated that it would impose, and again i quote, strict unforgiving burdens on the poor. unquo unquote. under that texas law a state university id was found not to be adequate proof but a state concealed weapons permit was. in wisconsin in 2015, the chief of staff to a leading republican state senator resigned after attending a party caucus in which she said some legislators were lit laterally giddy over the effect of state voter id laws on minorities and college students. finally last year an appellate federal court in north carolina stated based on state government e-mails that republican lawmakers had targeted in their new voting laws, and i quote again, african-americans with

almost surgical precision. unquote. let me be frank, voter fraud did not become an issue in north carolina as in other places until people of color decided to cast ballots in record numbers and become an item of greater e mer genesr energy in the -- emergency in the president obama. saddled with a governing philosophy that is at odds with an evolving operation, some republicans decide fd you can't beat them, change the rules. make it more difficult for those individuals less likely to support republican candidates to vote. and this is done with the knowledge that by simply depressing the vote of certain groups -- not even winning the majority of votes of these groups that elections can be affected. 2014 study by the j.o. found that it decreased the votes of

young people, minors and the poor in kansas and tennessee. a recent study conducted at the university of california san diego, after controlling a variety of factors concluded that the new laws disproportionately affected democratic voters. it dropped by 7% when strict photo laws were in place. latino turnout deveesed by 10% and there was an increase in the participation gap between whites and people of color. now if one were to try to find, voter fraud or a rigged election, that in fact is where it is. nation's attentions and laws should not be focused on these phantom illegal voters. the census bureau reported in the 2008 election of the adult citizens who did not vote, 60 million were not registered and not eligible to cast a ballot.

the in a speech i gave way back in 201 is at the lbj library, i called for the automatic registration of all eligible citizens. the ability to vote is a right. it is not a privilege. under our current system -- [ applause ] under our current system, many voters must follow needlessly complex and cumbersome voter rules. and before every election season, they usually have to manually process writen applications leaving the system riddled with errors and causing chaos at the polls. one in eight voter registrations in the united states is invalid or significantly unaccurate. now this is not as a result of people trying to gain the system.

it's an indication that the system itself is inadequate. that the system is at fault. modern technology provides the fix for this problem if we the first sentry. governments can and should automatically register citizens to vote by compiling from existing databases a list of all eligible residents in each jurisdiction. now, several states have taken steps in that direction. oregon implemented an automatic registration procedure although its dmv about a year ago and has already seen a nearly four fold increase in rej strants s. california, vermont, west virginia passed similar laws and other states are leaning in that direction. now, it's estimated that if implemented at dmvs and other key government agz, these needed reforms could add 50 million eligible voters to the rolls, save money and increase accuracy in the records necessary to the

system. now, the attempts in certain states to make even registration more difficult i think are shameful. in north carolina, good old north carolina, a procedure that automatically registered all high school students within one year of their right to cast their first vote was donna way with. now, everyone who voted for that change has to really be asked, why would you make it even more difficult for high school students to register to participate in the electoral process and were you really trying to prevent vote fraud from occurring? we must also address the fact that although one in nine americans moves every year, their voter registration does not move with them. many would-be voters don't realize this until after they've missed the deadline for registering which can fall a full month or more before election day. election officials should work together to establish a program of permanent, portable registration so that voters who move can vote at their new polling place on election day. but until that happens, we

should implement fail-safe procedures to correct outdated voter rolls and omissions by allowing every voter to cast a regular, none provisional ballot on election day. now, several states have already taken this step, and it's been shown to increase turn out by at least 3 to 5 percentage points. now, these modernization efforts will not only improve the integrity of our elections, they will also save precious taxpayer dollars. now, despite these benefits, there will always be those who say that easing registration hurdles and election day processes will only lead to voter fraud. well, let me be clear. voter fraud, to the extent that it actually exists, is not acceptable. it should not be tolerated. but as i learned early in my clear as a prosecutor in the justice department's public integrity section, while i actually prosecuted real voting fraud cases, making voter registration and voting easeier will simply not by themselves

make our elections more susceptible to fraud. indeed, those on all sides of this so-called debate have essentially acknowledged that in-person voting fraud is incredibly uncommon. we have to be honest approximate this. we must recognize that our ability to ensure the strength and the integrity of our election systems and to advance the reforms necessary to achieve this depends on whether the american people are informed, engaged and willing to demand fact-based contentions and common sense solutions and regulations that make voting more accessible. now, politicians pay not readily and willingly alter the engineer manned erred systems under which they were elected even though 80% of republicans oppose the citizens united decision and two-thirds of voters support strengthening and restoring the voting rielgts act. only we the people can bring about meaningful change and alter current discriminatory trends. so speak out.

don't be afraid. don't worry about being.sunl of a tweet. raise awareness about what's at stake. call on the political party most responsible to resist the tell me taking to suppress certain votes in the hope of ataken electoral success and instead work to achieve the success by appealing to more voters. what do they fear? the very people who they claim they want to represent? and urge policymakers at every level to re-evaluate our election systems and to reform them in ways that encourage, not limit, participation. insist that they make it easeier to register and easeier to vote and ask them, why is voting tied primarily to a single tuesday in

november? yeah. we need to work to p expand voting days and hours so that many of our fellow systems need not choose between casting a ballot and keeping their jobs. increase and not decrease as was zags rouseel done in arizona recently the number of polling places where our fellow citizens can truly participate in our democracy. insist that the redistricting done after the 2020 census is done in a fair democracy supporting way. and remember, the ability of the federal government to monitor election day complaints has been as a result of that disastrous supreme court decision in shelby county. i'd say dangerously. it has been dangerously reduced. today we cannot and must not take the right to vote for granted. nor can she shirk the sacred responsibility that falls upon our shoulders. we owe a debt, we owe a debt to those who sacrificed so much to ensure that all americans would have access to the ballot, and all of our actions we must honor that sacrifice. throughout his presidency lynn

done johnson, who made the promise of the 65 voting rights alkt real, he twreektel pointed out that america was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose, to right wrong and to do justice. unquote. over the last two centuries the fulfillment of this promise has taken many forms, acts of protest and compassion, declarations of war and peace and a range of efforts to make certain that as another great president said of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth. now, today there are competing vision about how our government should move forward. that's what the democratic process is all about. creating space for the thoughtful debate, creating opportunities for citizens to voice their opinions, and ultimately letting the people chart their own course. our nation has worked and even fought to help people around the world establish such a process. if you're at home, honoring our democracy demands that we remove

any and all barriers to voting. a goal that all american citizens of all political backgrounds must share. now, sfiet so many decades of struggle, sacrifice and achievement, we must remain ever vij lent in safeguarding our most bake and important right. too many recent actions are shameful and they have the potential to reverse the progress that defines us and that has made this nation exceptional, as well as an example of for all the world. let me be very clear here. that which has been and is being attempted in this country is simply unacceptable, and it is -- it's unamerican. we must be true to the art of america's history which compels us to be more inclusive with regard to the franchise, and we must never forget the purpose that more than two centuries ago inspired our nation's founding and now must guide us forward. this is a nation born of revolution and dedicated to the right of the people to choose their government. so let us act.

optimism and without delay. let us rise to the challenges and overcome the divisions and 9 fal's of our time. let us signal to the world today that in america the pursuit of a more perfect union lives on. generations before us did not fail in that quest. never forget, those three civil rights workers in mississippi gave their lives because they were trying to help people get their right to vote. now, in light of that kind of sacrifice, we must not nail in our time. now is not the time to retreat in the face of a partisan assault on the most bake of american rights. retreat in the face of injustice is not what the naacp does. the battle to protect the voting rights of all americans is a defining one. this is not only a legal issue, it is also a moral imperative. if we are to be the nation we claim to be, we must challenge in every way possible those who would undermine our democracy and who have lost faith of the

covenant between government and the people. the right to vote is not only the cornerstone of our system of government, it is the life blood of our democracy. now, i'm confident that with a focused and informed citizenry and with leaders like those in this room today, this struggle for right, and this is a struggle for right, the struggle for right will be won. if we are to remain stru to those who sacrificed, who died to secure the right to vote, we must not fail. generations before us, it is time once again, it is our time to insist that our nation lives up to its founding preseptember. as always, this fight will not be easy. it will be long. it will be setbacks. but if we are to honor the sacrifices of those who came before us, we must plenl to use our efforts to ensure that this most essential of american rights, the right to vote, is protected for this and protected for future generations.

thank you very much. xxxx. tonight on american history today our series landmark cases looks at the series slaughterhouse cases which helped define our leading understanding of the 14th amendment. >> all persons having business before the honorable the supreme court of the united states are admonished to draw near and give their attention. >> landmark cases, c-span's special history series produced in cooperation with the national constitution center. exploring the human stories and constitutional dramas behind