PLBC chairwoman Bullock announces subcommittee on voting and democracy
Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus January 14, 2021 | 10:10 AM
HARRISBURG, Jan. 12 – State Rep. and Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Donna Bullock, D-Phila., this week appointed state Reps. Malcom Kenyatta and Rick Krajewski, both D-Phila., as co-chairmen of the PLBC subcommittee on voting and democracy. The committee will focus on voting rights, gerrymandering, and judicial gerrymandering.
“During this very turbulent time in our country and even in our own state,” Bullock said, “we need to focus on fair, free and transparent elections. We just finished what was called one of the fairest and most efficient elections in our history yet there is rhetoric floating around our state legislature to discredit that. Let’s be clear, these recent events are modern day voter suppression efforts, and a violent attack on the votes of Black and other people of color. The establishment of this subcommittee to focus on voting and democracy is an important one and I believe that Representatives Kenyatta and Krajewski have the fortitude to keep these issues at the forefront and lead this important discussion as we move into the new legislative session.”
Kenyatta also serves on of the State Government Committee and introduced legislation that would modernize the voting process by allowing more time to vote in person and with mail ballots. He was also one of the 538 Pennsylvania electors and delivered the motion to declare President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“This past election was a free and fair election that also had historic record turnout, especially among voters of color,” Kenyatta said. “However, those in power worked ruthlessly to mute the voices of the people by upending the paramount of our democracy, harking back to voter suppression tactics of Jim Crow. I am honored to co-chair this committee with my friend and colleague, Representative Krajewski, because we cannot be idle in safeguarding our democracy. We will not tolerate these ongoing attempts to disenfranchise voters of color.”
"Our ancestors marched, protested, and died for our right as Black people to engage in our democracy,” Krajewski said. "In America, too many marginalized people have been unable to vote for too long. Excluding these voices weakens our democracy and oppresses our communities, since voting is one of the tools we have to combat the structural racism prevalent in our society. The consequences of an atrophying democracy are deadly, as we saw with the insurrection last week. That's why I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Voting and Democracy subcommittee — to ensure that we are doing all we can to make voting as easy and accessible for as many people as possible, so all people can participate in their freedom."