We must respond to efforts to restrict voting
Across the country, Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed or introduced bills that would restrict voting including banning ballot drop boxes and mail-in voting, reducing early voting days and hours, restricting who can get a mail-in ballot, prohibiting officials from promoting the use of mail-in ballots and even criminalizing the distribution of water to voters waiting in the long lines these laws create.
At least 18 states have enacted new voting restrictions since the 2020 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
The laws are part of a national Republican campaign in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona and other GOP-led states, to tighten voting laws in the name of security, mainly driven by former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen.
The real goal is to weaken turnout among Black Americans, Latinos and other Democratic-leaning voters and preserve the GOP’s eroding dominance.
In response, House Democrats passed legislation last month that would strengthen a landmark civil rights-era voting law weakened by the Supreme Court over the past decade.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore voting rights protections that have been dismantled by the Supreme Court. Under the proposal, the Justice Department would again regulate new changes to voting laws in states that have racked up a series of “violations,” drawing them into a mandatory review process known as “preclearance.”
The practice was first put in place under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But it was struck down by a conservative majority on the Supreme Court in 2013, which ruled the formula for determining which states needed their laws reviewed was outdated and unfairly punitive. The court did say, however, that Congress could come up with a new formula, which is what the bill does.
A second ruling from the court in July made it more difficult to challenge voting restrictions in court under another section of the law.
The Democratic-sponsored voting rights bill was approved in August on a 219-212 vote, with no Republican support.
The House bill is a step toward progress in the quest to resist voting restrictions advanced in Republican-led states.
But the measure faces dim prospects in the Senate, where Democrats do not have enough votes to overcome opposition from Republicans, who have rejected the bill as “unnecessary” and a Democratic “power grab.”
Democrats have a slim chance of enacting any voting legislation before the 2022 midterm elections, when some in the party fear new GOP laws will make it harder for many Americans to vote.
In response to new voting restrictions in Republican-controlled statehouses, Democrats in Congress must seek to align with independents and moderate Republicans to pass new federal voting rights protections at the federal level.
Also, a broad coalition of civil rights and civil liberties groups and others must continue to file lawsuits accusing Republican lawmakers of violating federal Voting Rights Act and intentionally discriminating against minorities. Most importantly voters can’t become discouraged and remain determined by responding to efforts to voter suppression efforts with high voter registration and turnout in upcoming elections.
Irv Randolph is an award-winning journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @IrvRandolph. Share this column with friends. View more columns at therandolphreport.
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