Lawyers" Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Applauds Passage of Voting Rights Advancement Act, in the House

Author

Lawyers" Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Release Date

Saturday, December 7, 2019

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WASHINGTON, DC- Following passage of H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, by the U.S. House of Representatives today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issues the following statement:

“We applaud passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act today, and urge the Senate to quickly bring it to the floor for a vote. This bill would restore the critical preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which were struck down by the Supreme Court in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision,” said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “In the six years after Shelby County, the floodgates of discrimination have opened, leaving communities of color across the country vulnerable to discrimination and voter suppression. These threats to the right to vote challenge the very foundation of our democracy and our decades-long march towards equality.”

“It is vital that the Senate take up consideration of the Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore its full protections and preserve its continuing ability to be responsive to current conditions of voting discrimination around the country,” said Demelza Baer, Director of Public Policy. “Modern forms of voting discrimination—like unduly restrictive photo id laws, purges of eligible voters before election day, and polling place closures—may not be as blatant as poll taxes and literacy tests, but they are no less pernicious. This bill would reinstitute the Department of Justice’s role in preclearing potentially discriminatory laws before they go into effect, and expand protections for voters against modern barriers to the ballot.”

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