The First Question Brett Kavanaugh Should Answer (And Why All Women Should Care)

With Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings now set to begin September 4, questions about abortion, contraception, and health care are being raised by women concerned about Kavanaugh’s record on the bench, and the views that shape his opinions.

But we also need to know something basic. It’s a question every Supreme Court nominee should be able to answer.

“Do you believe in democracy?”

Before you answer, Judge Kavanaugh, know this: democracy depends on the active participation of the people, as citizens, through a system of voting in free and fair elections. Voting is the most basic tool with which we, the people, influence the public policy that directly impacts our lives.

Brett Kavanaugh’s record on voting rights is pretty clear. As a federal judge, Kavanaugh wrote the opinion upholding a South Carolina law that required voters to show a photo ID before casting their ballots. He ruled that the law was not discriminatory, even though the Obama Administration claimed that it violated the Voting Rights Act.

The Obama Justice Department sued to block the South Carolina law, finding that more than 80,000 registered voters of color did not have DMV-issued identification, with African-Americans 20 percent more likely than whites to lack such ID. In his ruling, Brett Kavanaugh cited the well-worn myth of voter fraud, even though South Carolina had not submitted any cases of such improper voting to justify the law.

Never mind, said Brett Kavanaugh. “We conclude that South Carolina’s goals of preventing voter fraud and increasing electoral confidence are legitimate; those interests cannot be deemed pretextual merely because of an absence of recorded incidents of in-person voter fraud in South Carolina.”

I looked it up — “pretextual” is a legal term that describes false reasons that hide the true intentions of an action. In Brett Kavanaugh’s reasoning, just because a herd of elephants has never rampaged through your living room, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy stampede insurance.

The Brennan Center for Justice has found that statistically speaking, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit in-person voting fraud. Yet this political fairy tale has convinced Brett Kavanaugh to support laws that restrict access to the ballot.

If Kavanaugh’s views are allowed to set the tone for the Supreme Court, states will be unleashed to pass increasingly harsh voter ID laws, restrictions on early voting, and impediments to voter registration that disproportionately impact women, seniors, students, low income individuals, people of color and other marginalized communities.

I have first-hand knowledge of the impact federal law can have on voting. As a Clinton Administration appointee, I coordinated the implementation of the National Voter Registration (Motor Voter) Act in the WIC, Food Stamps and AFDC programs — an initiative that registered disenfranchised communities to vote. Women, as one of the groups most heavily impacted by voter suppression, were being actively discouraged from voting prior to motor voter’s passage — and still are, in many circumstances.

This program was fiercely opposed by Republicans who stood firm on voter suppression techniques that keep voters away from the polls. Mitch McConnell, then a freshman Senator, led the opposition, and freely admitted his motives — “lower voter participation was not necessarily a bad thing because it meant a better sort of electorate would determine winners.” He even introduced an amendment to stop offices that provide nutrition programs for poor pregnant women and mothers of young children from offering voter registration (it failed).

Now, Mitch McConnell is preparing to install a reliable vote against voting rights on the Supreme Court.

Back to my original query: Judge Kavanaugh, do you believe in democracy? If it depends on the active participation of all its citizens, in free and fair elections, it looks like the answer must be no.

So here’s a final question, and it’s not for Judge Kavanaugh. Why should women care? Our right to vote is the key to protecting our other rights, including health care, reproductive rights, family leave, and equal pay. It is the key to enacting harsher penalties for domestic violence, to protecting trafficking victims, and to giving people a leg up through social service programs.

Without full voting rights we cannot change the balance of power. Without full voter participation we cannot impact the outcomes of elections or impact critical issues. And we cannot ensure that our democracy is working for everyone.

If Brett Kavanaugh can’t support this right, then I know all I need to know. As a woman and as a staunch believer in democracy, I can’t support his nomination to the court, and our senators shouldn’t either.