Washington Voting Rights Act sponsors, Rep. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia), who chairs the House Government Operations and Elections Committee, and Rep. Luis Moscoso (D-Mountlake Terrace) released the following statement in response to this week’s Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act:

“We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The whole point of the law is to ensure and uphold the voting rights of all people, regardless of race and ethnicity, but this new ruling will effectively remove those protections by eliminating the pre-clearance requirement.

“While we urge Congress to right this wrong to prevent voter disenfranchisement and discrimination, we also strongly believe it’s now more than ever up to the states to take the necessary steps to ensure the voices of every ethnic minority are heard in every election.

“This is precisely why we must take action and pass the Washington Voting Rights Act to guarantee voter involvement so that all communities across our state get a fair chance to elect the candidates of their choice in at-large elections.”