Say Something Real
National Call to Protect Voting Rights
By Michelle Bryant
Michelle Bryant
This week, I want to share information for a national call to protect voting rights. Whether the average voter appreciates it or not, voting rights are under siege and we are ceding ground every day that we don’t fight back. Recent Supreme Court cases, which removed pre-clearance provisions for states with a proven history of racial discrimination (geographic coverage), have nearly gutted the initial court protections. The idea was simple: if a state wanted to change their voting laws or enact new voting restrictions, they needed pre-clearance by the Department of Justice or by a federal court.
However, we are facing rulings from the nation’s highest court that fly directly in the face of previous protections and which have made it more difficult to stop unfair practices that disproportionately impact the Black community.
Building on the foundational work of former U.S. Congressman John Lewis, Americans are being summoned to help secure passage of The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14, S.4). According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the Act would modernize and revitalize the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act provides for preclearance provisions for both geographic coverage and practice-based coverage.
Practice-based coverage includes creating at-large districts in places with sufficiently large minority populations, changing jurisdiction boundaries to remove minorities from the jurisdiction in places with sufficiently large minority populations, changing the boundaries of a district where a minority group is sufficiently large and has had a large population increase, imposing stricter requirements for documentation or proof of identity to vote, reducing the availability of or altering multilingual voting materials, reducing, consolidating, or relocating polling places, early and Election Day voting opportunities, or absentee voting opportunities in places with sufficiently large minority populations, and making it easier to remove voters from the rolls in places with sufficiently large minority populations.
The act has other provisions to limit discrimination and creates a new cause of action for voters to sue states or localities that implement a voting rule that is more discriminatory against minorities than the rule it replaces.
On July 17, 2024, which marks the 4-year passing of Rep. Lewis, groups will continue his work by “hosting rallies, community events, press events, and candlelight vigils nationwide to demand that Congress act to protect our freedom to vote and rebuild our democracy”. In addition to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the work includes a demand for passage of the Freedom To Vote Act, Native American Voting Rights Act, and Washington D.C. Admission Act.
If you or your organization is interested in hosting an event, please visit https://www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-actions/host/. There are actions we can take to help ourselves and this is just one of many. In the spirit of Juneteenth, the work that followed, and the victories previously won…. the fight must continue.