Congressional Democrats to Introduce Ambitious New Bill to Restore the Voting Rights Act
Two years ago, the Supreme Court gutted the VRA. Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman John Lewis have a plan to fix that.
by Ari Berman | June 23, 2015
Two years earlier the U.S. supreme court gutted the work that nearly cost congressman John Lewis his life over a half a century ago. For many it did. With section 4 of the VRA undone Section 5 protections were of little use against a political party whose goal and actual philosophy if greed and power lust can be called that, is to win without earning it.
They, the republican don't want to earn anything; not in the "free market" of commerce they pretend to worship, and especially not in politics. Dominion and supremacy doesn't work that way
John Lewis's Long Fight for Voting Rights
by Ari Berman | June 5, 2013
Nearly five decades after Bloody Sunday in Selma, he’s in the fight of his life, as the Supreme Court threatens to overturn his signature achievement
States with a long established pattern of violating the Voting Rights Act were subject to the close scrutiny of preclearance. Those same states and now even more controlled by the republican are accelerating the process of enacting laws designed to eliminate the rights of people who are smart enough not to vote for the republican.
Millions of people nation wide whose rights are now unprotected will be cut out of the democratic process as republicans have ramped up their efforts to purge people of their voting rights since that supreme court decision.
Rep. John Lewis: ‘The Voting Rights Act is Needed Now Like Never Before’
by Ari Berman | @ Bill Moyers | July 18, 2013
With the GOP holding a majority in both the House and the senate, the chances of the Leahy / Lewis Bill passing is slim.
One thing that is very good though is instead of moving towards the republican obstructionist with a watered down version hoping for a "compromise" that will never happen, this Bill does the opposite. It is strong and will do the job of protecting peoples constitutional right to vote.
This is a hugely important issue, and one that could and should become central in all upcoming elections from small town elections all the way to a vote for the US President.
Let's help John Lewis and Patrick Leahy and make some noise in support of repairing the damage done to the VRA.
The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015.
None of the compromise of 2014.
Here are nuts & bolts of the Bill:
♦ The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 would compel states with a well-documented history of recent voting discrimination to clear future voting changes with the federal government, require federal approval for voter ID laws, and outlaw new efforts to suppress the growing minority vote
♦ The bill is much stronger than the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 (VRAA),Congress’s initial response to the Supreme Court’s decision, which garnered bipartisan support in the House but was not embraced by the congressional Republican leadership.
♦ The Voting Rights Advancement Act restores Section 5 of the VRA by requiring states with 15 voting violations over the past 25 years, or..
♦ or 10 violations if one was statewide, to submit future election changes for federal approval
♦ This new formula would initially cover 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. (The VRAA of 2014 covered only Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.) Coverage would last for a 10-year period
Federal approval would be required if republicans pull any of this:
♦ § Changes to voter qualifications that make it more difficult to vote, such as new voter-ID laws and proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration.
♦ § Changes to the method of election in areas where there’s a significant racial- or language-minority population, defined as 20 percent of the electorate. This would target places like Pasadena, Texas, which after the Shelby decision eliminated two majority-Hispanic City council districts.
♦ § Changes to boundaries of an election district that reduce the size of the minority electorate in areas where there’s a significant racial- or language-minority population. This happened in Shelby County, Alabama, which most recently challenged the VRA, when the city of Calera reduced the black voting-age population in the city’s lone majority-black district from 71 percent to 30 percent in 2008, leading to the defeat of Calera’s only black councilman before the DOJ stepped in.
♦ § Changes to boundaries of an election district when the minority vote has grown by 10,000 people or by 20 percent in the past decade. This would also apply to a place like Shelby County, where the Hispanic population increased by 297 percent from 2000 to 2010.
♦ § Changes that reduce, consolidate, or relocate polling locations where there’s a significant racial- or language-minority population. This would apply to places like Morgan County, Georgia, which is 70 percent white and 28 percent black and closed a third of its polling places during the last election.
♦ § Any reduction in bilingual election materials, such as eliminating a voter guide in Spanish. This is a big issue in diverse states like Texas and California.
The 2016 election will be the first in 50 years where voters will not have the full protections of the VRA, which adds urgency to the congressional effort
Let's force the republican to, instead of stealing elections along with most everything they extract from society; Let's make them earn something for the first time in a long long while; or make them pay for their malfeasance by answering directly to the people why not.
That is exactly the kind of bold change we need - imo & Kudos to these dedicated champions of Civil Rights
- it's also way late & time to turn in - thanks for stopping by
For more exacting detail and this most excellent point made by Meteor Blades:
There's not a speck of worthwhile legislation that doesn't face an uphill battle these days.