Democrats have a vision of the United States of America where safety and freedom coexist, where liberty and justice are the policies of the government, and where the diversity of our citizenry is fostered and celebrated. The issues important to the Democratic Party reflect a pledge to lead the U.S. into a proud future.

Voting Rights

Democrats believe in the equal access to the polls for all eligible voters. Democrats have advocated mandates that would require states to supply sample ballots before Election Day, provisional voting, and equal access to polling places. President Clinton and Democrats made registration easier for voters with the enactment of the The National Voter Registration Act (Motor-Voter). The Motor-Voter law has registered over seven million new voters and made registration easier for more than 27 million citizens. The number of registered voters increased by 10 percent between 1994 and 1998. The DNC created the Voting Rights Institute in 2001 to use legislation, education, training, research, grassroots advocacy and grassroots organizing to combat voter suppression and intimidation on all levels of the voting process. Unlike Democrats, the Republican Party does not believe in a national standard for all elections nor do they fully fund national mandates for elections.