More than 10 months have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court shocked the American public by striking down Section 4(B) of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in Shelby County v. Holder. Civil rights groups have rallied in support of the proposed Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 (VRAA), which would restore some of what was lost as a result of the Court’s ruling. If approved, the VRAA would provide a new coverage formula based on recent voting discrimination activities of states and localities.
Under the proposed new coverage formula, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas would require federal review or “preclearance” before changes could be made to their voting laws. With 7.8 million historically underrepresented Latinos expected to cast their vote in the 2014 elections, the National Association of Latino Elected Appointed Officials (NALEO) is supporting the VRAA to protect the voting rights of these individuals, and their survey shows that most people agree with them. NALEO’s new report found that 83 percent of likely voters agreed that a fully functioning VRA is critical to protecting every American’s voting rights. The survey was based on responses from 1,000 likely registered voters in ten states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia).
Before Shelby, more than seven million eligible Latinos voters were protected from voting discrimination by the VRA; the VRAA will cover only 4.5 million eligible Latino voters. However, there is an understanding among proponents of voting rights that without the VRAA, a valuable asset for fighting voter discrimination may be lost. This is a major issue with elections coming up in November. Mr. Arturo Vargas, the executive director of NALEO, called on Congress to act on the VRAA. He emphasized the importance of the VRA in fighting voter discrimination, pointing out the impact of VRA throughout the Texas redistricting case in 2011. Texas has over four million eligible Latino voters and, given the state’s history with voter discrimination, the protection of these voters’ rights is a major concern for NALEO.
The protection of the right to vote is also a major concern for the public in general with 81 percent of likely voters agreeing that the VRA ensures fairness and equality of treatment at the polls. With a majority of people in support of the VRAA, hopefully Congress will agree and take swift action.
Jude Nwaokobia is a legal intern with Project Vote.