Clinton pushes for easier voting access, hits Republicans on voting rights
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton called on June 4 for changes to election laws to make it easier to vote, and condemned several Republican rivals for backing efforts that she said keep poor, young and minority voters from the polls.
At a speech at historically black Texas Southern University, Clinton said restrictive voting laws passed by Republican-led state legislatures in recent years are part of a "sweeping effort to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people and young people."
Clinton called for every US citizen to be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18, unless they actively choose to opt out, and backed a new standard of at least 20 days of early in-person voting in every state, including weekend and evening voting.
"We should be clearing the way for more people to vote, not putting up every roadblock anyone can imagine," said Clinton, who is the 2016 Democratic front-runner.
Clinton's remarks put her on the front lines of a longstanding partisan battle over recent voting restrictions approved by Republican-led legislatures in Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina and other states.
Democrats, who are pursuing legal challenges to some of the laws, say restrictions such as strict photo identification requirements for voters and cutbacks in early voting make the process harder for lower-income and minority voters and are designed to suppress turnout among those Democratic constituencies.
Republicans have defended the laws as necessary to combat voter fraud.