By Associated Press’s Matt Brown
WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before the Voting Rights Act of 1965’s 60th anniversary, and amid a renewed debate about how to administer American elections going forward, Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Tuesday to restore and expand protections enshrined in the landmark law.
With the support of Democratic leaders, Georgia Senator Ralph Warnock introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Although the measure has no chance of passing the Republican-controlled Congress, it offers the most concise statement of Democrats’ goals for election reform and voting rights.
Restoring and expanding the requirement that states and municipalities with a history of discrimination obtain federal approval before making changes to their voting laws is what the proposal would do. Additionally, it would mandate that states permit same-day voter registration, prohibit the removal of voters from the lists for failing to show up for an election, and permit anyone who may have been denied the right to vote to pursue a remedy in court.
The very house we reside in is democracy. According to Warnock, it is the framework that allows us to fight for the causes that are important to us. We should not take any of it for granted, as these past seven months have reminded us. We are genuinely engaged in a battle for the republic’s survival.
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Sen. Dick Durbin, the leading Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Alex Padilla of California joined Warnock. Dozens of people, including union organizers, environmentalists, voting rights advocates, and religious groups, flanked the senators.
The Voting Rights Act is in a vulnerable position at the time of its revival. Two decades of court decisions and expired congressional reauthorizations have eliminated or limited the law’s enforcement mechanisms. Additionally, the effectiveness of the law in safeguarding voters has been called into question by Republicans’ extraordinary campaign in a number of states to redistrict congressional districts five years ahead of schedule.
Voting rights advocates contend that scores of laws passed by state legislators in recent years limit voting rights, particularly for people of color, underprivileged areas, and those with disabilities.
Schumer pledged that Democrats would defend voting rights by fighting fire with fire.
Before condemning a special session called by the Texas legislature to redistrict the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries, Warnock also warned of an authoritarian movement that is currently taking place in our nation. Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump support the campaign, which they believe would help the GOP maintain the House majority and win many seats in the House of Representatives.
In 2021, when the Democrats controlled Congress as a whole, they first proposed the revised Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which invalidated the Voting Rights Act provision requiring certain states to obtain federal approval for legislative maps and election policies, prompted states to implement restrictive voting laws for a number of years.
In that Congress, the bill passed the House twice, but it was unable to get beyond the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster barrier. In March, Alabama Representative Terri Sewell reintroduced a version to the House.
John Lewis, a longtime Democratic congressman and civil rights fighter who passed away in 2020, is honored by the bill’s name. Sewell represents Selma, Alabama, where Lewis organized during the Civil Rights struggle and was beaten by state police during a nonviolent demonstration on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, also known as Bloody Sunday. Warnock represents Lewis’ home state.
As the senators discussed the bill, a photograph of Lewis stood behind them. According to Connecticut Democrat Blumenthal, Lewis’s gaze is relentless. He will hold us responsible.
