STATEMENT BY SENATOR CHRISTOPHER J. DODD
WASHINGTON, D.C. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2003

Press contact: Ryan McGinn,
(202) 224-0346

Dear Friends:

I regret that I'm unable to be with you on this historic day. I use the word historic for two reasons. First, Washington, D.C. is having the first presidential primary in our nation today. And like you, I hope every person in the District eligible to vote will do so. As someone who supports giving the residents of our nation's capital city full voting rights, I hope each and every voter in this city will go to the polls today. The ability to vote is a sacred right and a solemn obligation that for too long has been denied to the people of this great city. It's time that they take their rightful place at the table of freedom.

Secondly, today is a historic day because for the first time in the District of Columbia, each and every voter will be able to cast a private and independent ballot. For far too long, people who used a wheelchair or a seeing-eye dog have been unable to cast a vote by their own hand in the privacy of a voting booth. Some had to vote curbside. Others had to ask a friend to vote for them. But thanks to the efforts of countless Americans, including people like Jim Dickson, voters who happen to have disabilities will no longer be relegated to second-class citizen status on Election Day.

That is true today in the District of Columbia - and soon it will be true in every voting precinct in America.

There's a new law in our land. It's called the Help America Vote Act. It was passed after the infamous presidential election of 2000. It will bring an end to the day when disabled voters are treated like second-class citizens. It will bring an end to the day when millions of Americans can be denied their ability to exercise their right to vote because of color or class, age or language, party or precinct. And it promises that soon, every single American will be able to cast a private and independent ballot.

Less than a week from today, our nation will be commemorating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I can think of no better way to honor Dr. King than what we are doing today. Dr. King fought his entire life for voting rights because he understood that no nation can truly be called a democracy unless every single one of its citizens plays an active part.

Once again, congratulations to all of you on this historic achievement.

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