While voting and civil rights advocates prepare to rally in support of restoring the Voting Rights Act in Roanoke, Va. tomorrow, Congressional members introduced a new bill that would update protections against discriminatory voting practices. Project Vote submitted a letter today to urge members of Congress to support this new legislation.
The Voting Rights Advancement Act, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, Rep. John Lewis, and others today, reinstates the safeguard of “preclearance,” which blocks discriminatory voting laws before anyone’s voting rights are actually violated. The Advancement Act also recognizes that modern-day voting discrimination looks different than it did 50 years ago, when the Voting Rights Act first passed. These challenges and our country’s changing demographics require nationwide protections for voters.
“In recent years, the [Voting Rights] Act has worked to block newer practices such as redistricting and voter photo ID,” wrote Project Vote President Michael Slater in a letter to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. “The means of racial discrimination in voting may have changed, but the presence of such discrimination has not. Congress must follow the mandate under the Constitution to eliminate racial discrimination in voting by restoring the full efficacy of the Voting Rights Act.”
“Project Vote urges you to support this important bill,” Slater continues. “Without the safeguard of preclearance of voting changes in jurisdictions with particularly troubling histories of discrimination, their residents do not have adequate tools to combat racially motivated policies.”
Read Project Vote’s letter to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees here. Sign the petition to tell Congress why its time to restore voting rights here.