Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday will join other witnesses in testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on voting-access issues. Now a Democrat, Crist bucked many in his former party during his gubernatorial tenure by expanding voting rights for ex-felons and extending early voting hours. He will join Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz; North Carolina state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, and Nina Peralas, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, on the agenda.
The meeting begins at 10 a.m. and can be viewed on the committee’s website.
“These witnesses have each observed the new barriers that have suppressed the ability of millions of Americans to vote in states throughout the country,” committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said in a statement released by his office. “I look forward to learning from this expert panel about problems at the polls during the 2012 elections and how, through oversight, legislation, and continued enforcement of laws like the Voting Rights Act, Congress can help to make sure such abusive practices and barriers to the voting booth are never repeated.”
