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babylonsister

(171,111 posts) Tue Jun 23, 2015, 05:41 PM Jun 2015

Congressional Democrats to Introduce Ambitious New Bill to Restore the Voting Rights Act

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.
Ari Berman
June 23, 2015

Two years ago, on June 25, 2013 in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court invalidated the centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act. Tomorrow, Congressional Democrats will introduce an ambitious new bill that would restore the important voting rights protections the Supreme Court struck down. 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 legislation will be formally introduced tomorrow by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and leaders of the Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus and Asian Pacific American Caucus in the House. Civil rights icon Representative John Lewis will be a co-sponsor. 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, which declined to schedule a hearing, let alone a vote, on the bill.

“The previous bill we did in a way to try and get bipartisan support—which we did,” Senator Leahy told me. “We had the Republican Majority Leader of the House {Eric Cantor}] promise us that if we kept it like that it would come up for a vote. It never did. We made compromises to get {Republican}support and they didn’t keep their word. So this time I decided to listen to the voters who had their right to vote blocked and they asked for strong legislation that fully restores the protections of the VRA.

The 2016 election will be the first in fifty years where voters will not have the full protections of the VRA, which adds urgency to the Congressional effort. Since the Shelby decision, onerous new laws have been passed or implemented in states like North Carolina and Texas, which have disenfranchised thousands of voters, disproportionately those of color. In the past five years, 395 new voting restrictions have been introduced in 49 states, with half the states in the country adopting measures making it harder to vote. “If anybody thinks there’s not racial discrimination in voting today, they’re not really paying attention,” Senator Leahy said.

more...

http://www.thenation.com/article/210673/congressional-democrats-introduce-ambitious-new-bill-restore-voting-rights-act?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow#

8 replies

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Congressional Democrats to Introduce Ambitious New Bill to Restore the Voting Rights Act (Original Post) babylonsister Jun 2015 OP

Americans should be able to vote without obstruction Iliyah Jun 2015 #1

It's like tort reform, how to win when you can't win. nt Snotcicles Jun 2015 #3

The GOP will block this bill Gothmog Jun 2015 #2

Might be good timing. eom Frustratedlady Jun 2015 #4

K&R! myrna minx Jun 2015 #5

Good. It should have been done when we had the majority. merrily Jun 2015 #6

Bingo! Scuba Jun 2015 #7

Gov. Pat, Duke Energy, McCrory(R), NC must have gotten a huge whiff.... nc4bo Jun 2015 #8

Iliyah

(25,111 posts)

1. Americans should be able to vote without obstruction

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 05:51 PM

Jun 2015

But we know why the GOPers are trying to keep millions from voting.

Snotcicles

(9,089 posts)

3. It's like tort reform, how to win when you can't win. nt

Reply to Iliyah (Reply #1)

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 06:01 PM

Jun 2015

Gothmog

(145,970 posts)

2. The GOP will block this bill

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 05:59 PM

Jun 2015

The GOP can only win by cheating and suppressing the vote

Frustratedlady

(16,254 posts)

4. Might be good timing. eom

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 06:16 PM

Jun 2015

myrna minx

(22,772 posts)

5. K&R!

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 06:17 PM

Jun 2015

merrily

(45,251 posts)

6. Good. It should have been done when we had the majority.

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Tue Jun 23, 2015, 08:11 PM

Jun 2015

Supreme Court Invalidates Key Part of Voting Rights Act

By ADAM LIPTAKJUNE 25, 2013

........

The Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the 2006 extension of the law in a 2009 decision, Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder. But it avoided answering the central question, and it seemed to give Congress an opportunity to make adjustments. Congress, Chief Justice Roberts noted on Tuesday, did not respond.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-ruling.html?_r=0

Yes, the Republican Justices are being partisan, but Congress should not have left that door open. By the same token, given the headlines of the past year, the Republican Justices need to get real.

Scuba

(53,475 posts)

7. Bingo!

Reply to merrily (Reply #6)

Thu Jun 25, 2015, 07:36 AM

Jun 2015

nc4bo

(17,651 posts)

8. Gov. Pat, Duke Energy, McCrory(R), NC must have gotten a huge whiff....

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Thu Jun 25, 2015, 08:00 AM

Jun 2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/18/north-carolina-voter-id_n_7616370.html

WASHINGTON -- The North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill on Thursday allowing voters who do not have government-issued photo identification to still vote in next year's elections by signing an affidavit and presenting alternate forms of ID.

The photo ID requirement was set to go in effect for 2016 under a larger elections bill passed by the GOP-controlled state legislature two years ago. The ID provision, along with other voting restrictions, will be challenged by civil rights groups in federal court starting July 13 in Winston-Salem.

The affidavit measure now heads to Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. Under the new measure, voters would be able to swear that they could not obtain an appropriate form of photo ID to vote due to factors like lack of transportation, work schedules and family responsibilities. Voters would instead present an alternate form of identification, the last four digits of their Social Security number and date of birth.

The law was considered one of the nation's strictest voter ID bills in that it didn't allow for public employee IDs or student IDs from state universities. By the state's own calculation, more than 300,000 registered voters lacked the law's acceptable forms of ID.

Then there's this tidbit:

http://lockerroom.johnlocke.org/2015/06/18/voter-id-law-gets-relaxed-just-a-bit/

Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, one of the authors of the voter ID law, said the action was a logical step to not only shore up election integrity but also to provide “a backstop” to make sure voters don’t slip through the cracks. He said he believed very few people would use that provision.

“South Carolina has a reasonable impediment statute as well,” Lewis said. “In the 2014 election, only 114 people used it. It’s actually less restrictive than ours is.”

Big difference between 300k people unable to vote due to Jim Crow 2.0 and Rep. David Lewis'(R) estimate of only "a very few people" would use it.

McCrory said he would sign it. I'm sure the racist teabag party is not amused. They can all kick rocks. What this legislature tried to pull off was totally wrong and they know it.

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