“I favor universal, automatic voter registration for all citizens, carried out by the government. Voter registration, and the right to vote, I should say first, the right to vote is a right of the citizens. All of these obstacles to registration are obstacles created to make it difficult to exercise that right.”
Our Quote of the Week conveys the importance of voting rights and the injustice of placing obstacles that prevent people from voting. As the 2026 mid-terms approach, we share these words to get all of us thinking about our candidates and plans for the elections.
Sargent Shriver’s 1970 Address at the Polish American Congress Convention is both specific in its inclusion of references to Polish culture, and universal in its declaration of the importance of citizens’ right to vote. In the speech, Shriver outlines what he sees as the reasons for disillusionment during this era: the exorbitant expense of the war in Vietnam (“5 billion dollars a state. For every state in the country, we have spent 5 billion dollars in Vietnam. A total of over 200 billion dollars”); the drastic cutbacks that had been made to the War on Poverty programs, which put the poorest Americans at risk; the lack of leadership in government; and ongoing political polarization. He expresses a sentiment that continues to resonate today:
“I want to feel that we’re moving. Moving toward liberty and democracy and in progressive ways. I can’t stand the apathy that I’ve noticed [...] I can’t stand the officials who go around giving speeches calling their fellow Americans ugly names, spreading divisiveness, and rage.”
Shriver’s solution to the apathy and divisiveness of the era includes, among other things:
- mandatory national service
- jobs for young people
- the protection of voting rights
This last point is an important one for Shriver. He brings up the example of France, where he had lived during his tenure as US Ambassador to that country. He points out that elections are held on Sunday in France and in other Western European countries, making it easier for more citizens to vote--and where the percentage of citizens who vote is drastically higher than that of the United States. In this context, he emphasizes that the government should enact automatic voter registration.
We are living through a time when the US is going backwards in the area of voting rights, with political leaders taking significant steps to make it more difficult for people to vote. With Congress’ introduction of the SAVE Act and the Supreme Court’s most recent efforts to dismantle the Voting Rights Act, it is critical that all of us who are eligible to vote know our rights, be prepared for elections, and importantly, that we pay attention to our candidates’ stances on the issue of voting rights. Online resources like vote.org and ballotpedia.org can help with details about voter registration, important dates, polling stations, and with the names and details of our local candidates. By being informed, active voters, we are playing a role in an important civic duty—the safeguarding of democracy.
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