With Major Elections Bill, House Dems Get Ball Rolling On Fixing Voting Rights Act
Source: Talking Points Memo
By Tierney Sneed
January 4, 2019 6:00 am
A major legislative package of democracy reforms House Democrats will introduce on Friday is both a notable marker of the emphasis the new majority wants to put on voting rights and the beginning of the process by which Democrats hope to restore the Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court gutted in 2013.
According to a summary of the package sent to reporters, the bill known as We the People Democracy Reform Act or HR1 makes a congressional finding that the 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder led to a wave of voter suppression and instructs Congress to build a record upon the finding.
The House is expected to consider a separate bill that would restore the provision of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court dismantled. That provision required states and localities with a history of racial voter discrimination to get election policy changes pre-approved by the federal government. The bill to address head on the Shelby County decision is moving on its own track, a House Democratic aide told TPM, so the House can build a record of the voter suppression that has happened since the decision came down. Such a public record, legal experts believe, will help protect a VRA fix, if passed, from court challenges conservatives may try to bring against it.
The We the People legislation Democratic leaders will be touting at a press conference Friday morning will not include that VRA fix. However, it includes several other provisions expanding the franchise that have been championed by voting rights activists, such as automatic voter registration, same day voter registration, mandated early voting, a requirement that states set up independent redistricting commissions to prevent gerrymander, and a campaign finance overhaul.
Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-democrats-will-introduce-bill-to-fix-voting-rights-act
Lets see what the senate does.......................
SHRED
(28,136 posts)turbinetree
(24,632 posts)and then it will sit there in the senate chamber.......................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough....................
BumRushDaShow
(127,320 posts)We gotta start somewhere and it will definitely be helpful to have those public hearings on what has happened post-2013 so that legislation to deal with re-instating Sect. 5 when Section 4 was thrown out.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)but symbolic votes are needed none the less
dalton99a
(81,073 posts)But it must be done - and reintroduced until it passes
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)Writing, refining, and pushing legislation like this should make it be ready day one in 2021 should we take back the Senate and Presidency. Biggest obstacle to everything is the damage done to our democracy.