Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke said he wants a new Voting Rights Act on Saturday as he formally began his 2020 campaign in his hometown of El Paso, Texas.
“As president, I will sign into law a new Voting Rights Act,” O’Rourke said. “Together, we will end gerrymandering, we will get big money out of our politics, and all across this country, we will have automatic and same-day voter registration.”
O’Rourke, 46, made the declaration as the Supreme Court examines the matter of partisan gerrymandering. This past week the Supreme Court heard two cases involving the issue, which involves lawmakers from one of the two major parties drawing district maps to disproportionately favor their party. One of the cases comes from North Carolina, where GOP candidates won 53 percent of the vote statewide, but won 10 out of the 13 congressional districts.
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson and prohibits racial discrimination at the polls. It has been amended five times since its inception. O’Rourke signaled Saturday that he thought there should be an entirely new law put into place.
The issue of voting rights has been a hot topic of debate, especially in Texas, where in January it was announced that up to 95,000 registered voters in the state may not be U.S. citizens. The topic was seized on by President Trump and Republicans who said there needs to be greater scrutiny of people voting.
O’Rourke announced he was running for president earlier this month and has been visiting early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire since. O’Rourke rose to prominence during a widely-publicized campaign for the Senate seat of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which ended in a closer than-I’m expected loss. O’Rourke is seen as a threat to Republicans who worry that if he gets the nomination he could be a challenge to Trump in 2020.
