Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This landmark piece of legislation was a milestone in the fight for civil rights and a great step forward in the advancement of our democracy. Unfortunately, four years ago the U.S. Supreme Court struck a massive blow to this legislation when it overturned Section 5 of the VRA, making it very difficult to step in and enforce voters’ rights.

We need to remember the price that was paid for the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act was one of the great victories of the civil rights movement. Now, as then, change comes when the people demand it.

We must demand that Congress restore the Voting Rights Act to protect minority voters from being disenfranchised and discriminated against in states and counties that have a pattern of doing just that.

We must insist that the Voting Rights Act be expanded in scope so that no American, regardless of skin color or national origin or age, is prevented from voting freely, without hindrance from local authorities.

We must make Election Day a national holiday, register all eligible voters automatically and put an end to discriminatory laws and voter roll purging.

The struggle for our rights is not the struggle of a day, or a year, or a generation, but a struggle of a lifetime, and one that must be fought by every generation. It’s our job today to keep up that struggle together.

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About author Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history. Elected Mayor of Burlington, Vt., by 10 votes in 1981, he served four terms. Before his 1990 election as Vermont's at-large member in Congress, Sanders lectured at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Hamilton College in upstate New York. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history. Elected Mayor of Burlington, Vt., by 10 votes in 1981, he served four terms. Before his 1990 election as Vermont's at-large member in Congress, Sanders lectured at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Hamilton College in upstate New York. Read more at his website