The bill, introduced Wednesday by Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.), responds to the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Section 4 of the law in 2013. In a 5-4 vote, the court declared it was time to update the section, which determined which states and localities with a history of minority voter suppression had to clear changes to their voting laws with the Justice Department. The justices left it up to Congress to come up with a new formula for designating which regions of the country require special scrutiny.
The Sensenbrenner-Conyers bill, known as the Voting Rights Amendment Act, updates that formula by making it apply to all states and jurisdictions with voting violations in the past 15 years, and by creating uniform transparency requirements to keep communities informed about voting changes.
The legislation actually expands the Voting Rights Act, too, by giving more power to federal courts to stop discriminatory voting changes before they are implemented. Specifically, it would lower the bar for plaintiffs seeking a preliminary injunction of a law in any federal court.
“The VRA is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation ever passed," said Sensenbrenner. "Our legitimacy as elected officials relies on the integrity of the ballot box. I urge my colleagues to support the VRAA because it is vital to our commitment to never again allow racial prejudices in the electoral process."
A major obstacle for the bill continues to be its lack of GOP supporters. Aside from Sensenbrenner, the House bill had only 11 GOP co-sponsors in the last Congress. This time, as of Wednesday afternoon, it has only three: Reps. Charlie Dent (Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Chris Gibson (N.Y.).
That means seven Republicans have dropped off since last year, including Reps. Steve Chabot (Ohio), Sean Duffy (Wis.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Luke Messer (Ind.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.) and Michael Turner (Ohio). Its other former GOP co-sponsor, Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.), retired.
House Democrats on the bill include Reps. Steny Hoyer (Md.), John Lewis (Ga.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Bobby Scott (Va.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Judy Chu (Calif.), Cedric Richmond (La.), David Cicilline (R.I.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Scott Peters (Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) and Karen Bass (Calif.) and Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (P.R.).
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) plans to reintroduce the Senate legislation. It didn't have any GOP co-sponsors in the last Congress and is unclear if it will this time.
"I will continue to work to find a Senate Republican to join me in introducing bipartisan legislation to restore this landmark law so that every Americans’ right to vote is protected," Leahy said.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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