49 years ago on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He addressed an estimated 300,000 participants of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, saying:
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
49 years ago Americans were struggling to find work, were fighting against segregation and discrimination, and they were fighting for their right to vote. While we have come a long way since before the days President Lyndon Johnson signed the VotingRights Act into law, we still face many of the same challenges today.
Today Americans are still fighting for their right to vote, in the form of discriminatory voter ID laws, illegal efforts to purge voter rolls, and illegal attempts to limit early voting. All eligible citizens have a constitutionally guaranteed right to vote and we here at the Campaign Legal Center are actively engaged in multiple court cases defending this fundamental right. For more information, check out our Court Cases of Interest page and our Voter Protection resources page. We will continue to fight to make sure that the dream of voting, which Martin Luther King Jr. spoke so eloquently about, remains a reality for all Americans.