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Congressman Veasey Statement on President Trump’s Claim of Voter Fraud

January 25, 2017

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Marc Veasey released the following statement after President Trump made baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2016 general election:

"When the President of the United States falsely claims that the elections are ‘rigged' and ‘voter fraud occurred by the millions' but then fails to be responsible and produce an ounce of evidence to prove his claims, he undermines the basic faith Americans have in our democratic system.

Rather than making irresponsible and indefensible claims, President Trump should take a constructive step to ensure proper access to the ballot and fair elections – he should call on Congressional Republicans to work with Democrats to restore and update the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In Texas, we've seen the damage done by phony voter fraud claims in the absence of a strong Voting Rights Act. As part of an insincere witch hunt for non-existent fraud, Texas Republican leaders adopted the most restrictive and repressive voter ID law in the nation. As the lead plaintiff in the court battle challenging the Texas law, I know first-hand how baseless claims by Republican office-holders laid the groundwork for undermining our sacred right to vote. Every federal court that has reviewed the Texas law found it to be discriminatory. Texas taxpayers have been forced to spend millions of dollars in court defending a discriminatory law that was based on lies.

Until President Trump and other Republican leaders work with Democrats to restore our lost voting rights, we can only conclude that their purpose is not to protect the integrity of elections but to consolidate power by weakening the voting strength of those who oppose them."