Congress’s approval ratings are at all-time record lows. Americans have lost faith in our elected officials. The public no longer believes that Congress can get past the partisan gridlock plaguing our nation and achieve anything of substance. However, members of Congress have been given an historic opportunity to redeem themselves in the eyes of the American people. They can prove that the system can still function, that they can come together across the aisle to make our democracy work for every citizen.
One year ago today, millions of Americans were outraged when the Supreme Court gutted the heart of the Voting Rights Act through its ruling in Shelby County v. Holder. The Voting Rights Act (VRA) is a monumental law in our nation’s history that has always enjoyed bipartisan support. A Democratic president, Lyndon Johnson, originally championed it in the 1960s. However, as recently as 2006, a nearly unanimous Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, a unanimous Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, and a Republican president reauthorized the entire law after thorough research and deliberation.
In Shelby County, the Supreme Court held that the coverage formula contained in Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act is out of date and therefore unconstitutional for purposes of determining the jurisdictions subject to federal preclearance under Section 5. As a result, there is, for now, no preclearance review under Section 5 of states and localities with a history of racial discrimination. To be clear, the Supreme Court did not hold that racial discrimination in jurisdictions that were subject to preclearance no longer exists, nor that preclearance requirements are per se unconstitutional, only that the coverage formula in the statute is no longer a constitutionally sound mechanism for determining which states and localities require preclearance.
Section 5 preclearance has been central to the Voting Rights Act’s effectiveness over almost five decades. Unaffected by Shelby County, VRA Sections 2 and 3(c) are still tools available under the Voting Rights Act, but they are immensely expensive and can take years to have any effect. Moreover, most court cases involving Section 2 in the past have been limited to redistricting, an issue where wealthy political parties are willing to spend substantial money on litigation to help them achieve politically advantageous district lines. Other smaller scale, controversial voting measures are less important to them but can be equally vital to minority communities, like the shifting of polling sites and polling times to ones that disadvantage minorities. Section 5 is the reliable, efficient, smart-government method to protect our democracy. Creating a constitutionally sound formula to re-establish Section 5 preclearance is essential to achieving a just voting system.
Already, we have seen some states and localities jump at the opportunity to limit minority community influence in their elections in the wake of Shelby County. In the months after the ruling, North Carolina passed a sweeping voter suppression law that disproportionally diminishes minority communities’ ability to vote. Florida quickly resumed a voter purge, which had been halted by a lawsuit challenging the state’s failure to obtain preclearance. After Shelby County, the state felt free to continue the purge targeting Hispanic surnames. In Texas, the very day Shelby County was decided, Attorney General Greg Abbott moved to implement election measures a federal court had rejected the year before because of their negative impact on minority communities.
However, there is reason for hope. Bipartisan legislation, the Voting Rights Amendment Act (VRAA), introduced earlier this year, addresses the Supreme Court’s concerns about the preclearance provisions contained in the VRA. Among other modifications, the bill would update the coverage formula by making all states and smaller jurisdictions subject to preclearance upon reaching a threshold number of voting violations in the last 15 years.
Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy will take an important step in moving this legislation through Congress by holding a hearing in that committee on the Senate version of the bill. (Read Project Vote’s letter supporting the VRAA here.) In the House, Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner has introduced the same bill, with ten Republican and fifteen Democratic members joining as co-sponsors.
We implore House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte to follow the Senate’s lead and hold a hearing on the House version of the bill immediately. We must not risk even one election where Americans may be denied the opportunity to cast a meaningful ballot. With the November General Election fast approaching, this bill cannot wait.
There have been other times in the past when we as Americans have been divided in our politics. Though the 1960’s were a turbulent and divisive era, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the Voting Rights Act. Congress should once again use the Voting Rights Amendment Act as an opportunity to put aside divisive, partisan politics and come together in a bipartisan spirit to move quickly on this legislation. We commend Chairman Leahy for convening a hearing today and urge Senators of both parties to take the necessary steps to shepherd this legislation through their chamber. We also urge Chairman Goodlatte immediately to hold a hearing on the VRAA in the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Goodlatte stood with the American people when he voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, including Section 5 preclearance, in 2006. It is time for him again to commit himself to this vital shield in the protection of our democracy.
Photo via www.vra4today.org.
Max Etin is a legal intern with Project Vote.