Today Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate. The bill, S. 4 (the companion to H.R. 14 in the House), would strengthen protections for Americans of color against racial discrimination in voting and representation. It would restore and revitalize the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had the following reaction:
“The Voting Rights Act has been perhaps the most effective civil rights law of the past century. It offered all Americans the promise of full and equal access to our democracy. The Supreme Court gutted it over the past decade. Congress can and must act to restore the law to full strength.
“This law was long a bipartisan triumph. The last time Congress considered the Voting Rights Act, it passed the Senate 98–0. This is not a partisan cause, it is an American cause. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act should be urgent priority legislation, along with the Freedom to Vote Act, to protect our freedoms. Congress cannot let antiquated legislative rules prevent action.”
For more on the current legal protections for voters of color, what’s missing, and the recent increase in discriminatory voting laws, please see “Pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.”
Other resources:
- “Voting Laws Roundup: 2023 in Review”: The year’s trends in restrictions and expansions of voting law (Jan. 2024)
- “Strengthening the Voting Rights Act”
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