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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

James Freedland, (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666;
media@aclu.org

Veterans Now Allowed to Register to Vote at VA Facilities

ACLU Encouraged by Decision, Hopes Policy Will Be Implemented Before November

NEW YORK

In
a victory for voting rights, the Department of Veterans Affairs
reversed course Monday by lifting a ban on nonpartisan voter
registration drives in its facilities. The American Civil Liberties
Union opposed the ban as an unconstitutional infringement on the voting
rights of over 100,000 veterans who live in the VA's nursing homes,
homeless shelters and rehabilitation centers.

The following can be attributed to Laughlin McDonald, Director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project:

"It is encouraging that the VA has
seen the light and lifted its inexplicable ban on nonpartisan voter
registration efforts. Hopefully, this new policy will allow veterans
the opportunity to exercise the constitutional right to vote they have
fought so hard to protect. It is about time the federal government
realized there is nothing partisan about giving veterans voting
information or registering them to vote. However, it is troubling that
this reversal comes perilously close to the November elections.
Considering the truncated window of opportunity, we hope that the
registration process will begin immediately so that veterans will be
able to vote this fall."

More information on the ACLU Voting Rights Project is available at: www.votingrights.org

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

(212) 549-2666