A Weakened Voting Rights Act At 52 Means Our Work Is Not Over
Today, we’re commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6th, 1965. From the Freedom Riders to the lawyers who litigated on behalf of their cause, defending voting rights has always been in the hands of valiant and committed individuals, and today, they fall in ours.
The Voting Rights Act addressed the tremendous obstacles faced by African-American voters, including harassment, intimidation, violence, and poll taxes. It made strides against the deleterious impact of voter suppression by outlawing literacy tests and other discriminatory practices. Section 5 of the Act required jurisdictions to obtain pre-clearance from the District Court of the District of Columbia or the U.S. Attorney General as a requisite for any new voting protocols or practices.
This pre-clearance required by Section 5 proved to be an immensely important piece of legislation because it required all new voting practices to comply with Section 2 — which prohibited denial or suppression of the vote based on race or color. For over 45 years, Section 5 protected minority voters from new voting procedures that would create barriers to voting. The Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013 gutted the voting rights act, effectively striking down Section 5.
Without the pre-clearance requirement, States were able to push through discriminatory voting practices, and Texas imposed its Voter ID Law immediately after the decision.
The Lawyers’ Committee has been litigating in Texas for 6 years. Thanks to our Voting Rights Project’s commitment to stopping the discriminatory effects of the strict Texas Photo ID law, we successfully moved forward in this case without this administration’s Justice Department. The trial court has reaffirmed its ruling that the law was adopted with discriminatory intent with the potential to obstruct access to the ballot box for over half a million voters.
The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act just over four years ago, and with recent assaults on voting rights from the federal level, defending the right to vote is increasingly critical. The Lawyers’ Committee has had 17 voting rights cases open over the last year, more than the United States Department of Justice itself.
We are standing up to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and his sham voting commission, filing a formal Hatch Act Complaint in response to his unlawful leveraging of his status on the Election Integrity Commission to benefit his political career, and by filing another suit accusing the commission of violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act for operating behind closed doors, without public input.
In Georgia, our Voting Rights Project (VRP) secured the registration of an additional 8,000 voters in time for the special Sixth Congressional District runoff election in May. We mobilized opposition and successfully struck down Georgia’s unlawful racial gerrymander, disbanded its “exact match” voter registration protocol, and defeated a proposal that would have closed over half of Fayette County’s voting precincts.
Our nonpartisan Election Protection (EP) team and volunteers have helped thousands of voters across the country register and access the ballot. The EP voter protection hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, is live Monday through Friday and continues to be a crucial resource for voters across the country.
The Lawyers’ Committee is leading the fight to protect voting rights, and as widespread federal attacks on our rights become the new normal, we will not acquiesce.
No matter which of the Trump administration’s recent actions concern and anger you most, equipping eligible voters with the right to vote is central to ANY effort to make changes in Washington.
Contact your representatives, contribute today, and do everything you can to help restore the Voting Rights Act.
You can sign up to #FightLikeHell here.
