Statement from Governor Tina Kotek on Today’s Supreme Court Decision Gutting the Voting Rights Act

Governor Tina Kotek released the statement below in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and opening the floodgates for Republicans to disenfranchise voters of color across the country:

"The Supreme Court's decision today is a profound betrayal of the Voting Rights Act and of the generations of Americans who marched, fought, and gave their lives to make it law. By stripping Section 2 of its meaning at President Trump's urging, this Court has cleared a path for politicians to silence communities of color and redraw maps to entrench their own power. This is an assault on the basic promise of American democracy.

"Oregon has spent more than a quarter century building an election system that puts voters first, and I won't let President Trump, the Supreme Court, or anyone else turn back that progress. Every voter in Oregon and across the country has the right to a free, fair, and equal say in our democracy, and we must stand together to keep that promise."

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