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house Bill H.R. 4

Should the Voting Rights Act be Strengthened?

Argument in favor

The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County vs. Holder severely weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which up until then had been the key protection ensuring that everyone — particularly minorities — gets the same access to the ballot box. This bill would help to ensure that states with a history of voter suppression don’t take steps to restrict voting access in future elections.

jimK's Opinion
···
12/06/2019
Yes, voting rights must be protected. Voting right violations due to inherent bias, intentional acts to favor particular candidates, complacent state oversight or corrupt officials must be monitored and corrected for elections generally and national elections especially. It is in the National interest to assure that the vote accurately reflects the will of all of the people. I think that the new provisions should address prior court concerns. So many instances of corrupt officials manipulating voting practices have been documented lately that federal oversight is warranted. Note that there have been no, none, nada reported instances of non-citizens sneaking into polls to swing votes or to vote multiple times under different identities despite the Republican fantasied conspiracy theories that are often repeated. All of the vote corruptions have occurred by intimidation at the polls, selectively voiding votes by people who didn’t make ‘pretty enough’ signatures exactly within the lines, locating polling sites miles away from communities whose votes State officials didn’t want to count, the collecting of absentee ballots from elderly and changing or discarding their votes, discarding absentee ballots and of course hanging chads. All of these involved corrupt practices of state or local officials; and these acts alone warrant federal oversight to protect the people and ensure that national elections truly reflect the will of all of the people. … … … OMG, I forget to mention gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is EVIL manipulation of the outdated Electoral College system which contorts the National vote away from the ‘will of the people’ or the ‘will of the majority of the people’, to the ‘will of the tiniest minority of people who happen to live in a few key swing districts’. We have seen several presidential elections won by the the electoral college and not the majority of voters as well as the deployment of military grade psy-ops disinformation campaigns that target specific individuals within these critical districts to guide their vote. Reason enough for me to want to abolish the electoral college altogether as well as eliminating the ‘erasure’ of state voters in the minority by state winner takes all practices- which is one of the most easily abused aspects of fair voting practices.
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Cl's Opinion
···
12/06/2019
Protect our voting rights. Now more than ever, the right of every American to have equal access to the voting booth is under threat. Make Election Day a holiday, too!
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Cyndi's Opinion
···
12/06/2019
Voting rights are under attack by entities that want to control election outcomes by suppressing the rights of voters less likely to vote for their party. Voter suppression is a grave threat to our democracy and voting rights MUST Be protected.
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Argument opposed

The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County vs. Holder was properly decided, as the Court ruled that the VRA’s requirements were no longer needed given changes to the law and the U.S. itself since the VRA’s enactment in 1965. This bill would unnecessarily politicize election administration and give the federal government too much control over a state-level issue.

Ronald's Opinion
···
12/06/2019
This was an outdated law, for an outdated problem. Work on the current problem: pass a strong voter photo ID law. With early, absentee, mail in, and election day voting. We have made voting easy enough to make voter fraud the true problem,
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Marshall's Opinion
···
12/06/2019
We need to know that only US citizens are voting.
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operaman's Opinion
···
12/06/2019
Strengthening the Voting Act would be a national standards for Voter ID.
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bill Progress

  • Not enacted
    The President has not signed this bill
  • The senate has not voted
  • The house Passed December 6th, 2019
    Roll Call Vote 228 Yea / 187 Nay
      house Committees
      Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties
      Committee on the Judiciary
    IntroducedFebruary 26th, 2019
Log in or create an account to see how your Reps voted!

Bill Activity

  • Floor
    Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  • Floor
    On passage Passed by recorded vote: 228 - 187 (Roll no. 654).
  • Floor
    On motion to recommit with instructions Failed by recorded vote: 200 - 215 (Roll no. 653).
  • Floor
    The previous question on the motion to recommit with instructions was ordered without objection.
  • Floor
    DEBATE - The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Rodney Davis (IL) motion to recommit with instructions. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the bill to be reported back to the House with an amendment inserting a new section entitled rule of construction which states that nothing in this Act may be construed to allow fines or other amounts paid to the United States in connection with a violation of title I of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 including any amount paid pursuant to a settlement agreement, to be used to make a payment in support of a campaign for election for the office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
  • Floor
    Mr. Davis, Rodney moved to recommit with instructions to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  • Floor
    Pursuant to clause 1(c) of Rule XIX proceedings on H.R. 4 resumed.
  • Floor
    POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, the Chair postponed further proceedings on H.R. 4.
  • Floor
    The previous question was ordered without objection.
  • Floor
    DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 4.
  • Floor
    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate. Also, the resolution provides for consideration of H. Res. 326 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate. The rule provides that the amendments to H. Res. 326 and preamble, modified by the amendments in Part B of the report are considered as adopted.
  • Floor
    Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 741.
  • Floor
    Pursuant to clause 1(c) of Rule XIX proceedings on H.R. 4 resumed. (consideration: CR H9331-9334)
  • Floor
    On passage Passed by recorded vote: 228 - 187 (Roll no. 654). (text: CR H9308-9312)
  • Floor
    Mr. Davis, Rodney moved to recommit with instructions to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR H9331)
  • Floor
    Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 741. (consideration: CR H9308-9330)
  • Floor
    Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 741 Reported to House. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate. Also, the resolution provides for consideration of H.Res. 326 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate. The rule provided that the amendments to H.Res 326 and the preamble recommended by the Committee on Foreign Affairs modified by the amendments in Part B are considered adopted.
  • Floor
    Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 741 Reported to House. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 4 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate. Also, the resolution provides for consideration of H. Res. 326 under a closed rule with one hour of general debate. The rule provides that the amendments to H. Res. 326 and preamble, modified by the amendments in Part B of the report are considered as adopted.
  • Calendars
    Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 258.
  • Committee
    Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 116-317.
  • Committee
    Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 19 - 6.
  • Committee
    Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  • Committee
    Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Discharged.
  • Committee
    Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
  • Committee
    Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Justice.
  • IntroReferral
    Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

bill Progress

  • Not enacted
    The President has not signed this bill
  • The senate has not voted
  • The house Passed December 6th, 2019
    Roll Call Vote 228 Yea / 187 Nay
      house Committees
      Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties
      Committee on the Judiciary
    IntroducedFebruary 26th, 2019
Log in or create an account to see how your Reps voted!
    jimK's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Yes, voting rights must be protected. Voting right violations due to inherent bias, intentional acts to favor particular candidates, complacent state oversight or corrupt officials must be monitored and corrected for elections generally and national elections especially. It is in the National interest to assure that the vote accurately reflects the will of all of the people. I think that the new provisions should address prior court concerns. So many instances of corrupt officials manipulating voting practices have been documented lately that federal oversight is warranted. Note that there have been no, none, nada reported instances of non-citizens sneaking into polls to swing votes or to vote multiple times under different identities despite the Republican fantasied conspiracy theories that are often repeated. All of the vote corruptions have occurred by intimidation at the polls, selectively voiding votes by people who didn’t make ‘pretty enough’ signatures exactly within the lines, locating polling sites miles away from communities whose votes State officials didn’t want to count, the collecting of absentee ballots from elderly and changing or discarding their votes, discarding absentee ballots and of course hanging chads. All of these involved corrupt practices of state or local officials; and these acts alone warrant federal oversight to protect the people and ensure that national elections truly reflect the will of all of the people. … … … OMG, I forget to mention gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is EVIL manipulation of the outdated Electoral College system which contorts the National vote away from the ‘will of the people’ or the ‘will of the majority of the people’, to the ‘will of the tiniest minority of people who happen to live in a few key swing districts’. We have seen several presidential elections won by the the electoral college and not the majority of voters as well as the deployment of military grade psy-ops disinformation campaigns that target specific individuals within these critical districts to guide their vote. Reason enough for me to want to abolish the electoral college altogether as well as eliminating the ‘erasure’ of state voters in the minority by state winner takes all practices- which is one of the most easily abused aspects of fair voting practices.
    Like (143)
    Follow
    Share
    Ronald's Opinion Against
    ···
    12/06/2019
    This was an outdated law, for an outdated problem. Work on the current problem: pass a strong voter photo ID law. With early, absentee, mail in, and election day voting. We have made voting easy enough to make voter fraud the true problem,
    Like (49)
    Follow
    Share
    Cl's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Protect our voting rights. Now more than ever, the right of every American to have equal access to the voting booth is under threat. Make Election Day a holiday, too!
    Like (78)
    Follow
    Share
    Cyndi's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Voting rights are under attack by entities that want to control election outcomes by suppressing the rights of voters less likely to vote for their party. Voter suppression is a grave threat to our democracy and voting rights MUST Be protected.
    Like (77)
    Follow
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    Joanne 's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Voting rights MUST be protected. Sadly, even in this day and age, we have people doing everything possible to thwart the right to vote. We are supposed to progress not regress.
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    Jim2423's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    It is hard to believe that in 2019 we still have people who want to stymie people from voting. Yes if this law really helps enforce voting freedom. But generally it looks like they don’t find out until after the elections and the corrupt folks are already in office.
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    Marshall's Opinion Against
    ···
    12/06/2019
    We need to know that only US citizens are voting.
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    Bradford's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    I support HR 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. The original Voting Rights Act was paramount to our success as a democracy and should be strengthened at all costs rather than weakened. The purpose of the VRA was to ensure that all people are able to vote. Through the years and over time, and this in not a Trump-specific phenomenon; Republicans have taken to doing their best to reduce and stifle the number of minority or other demographic group voters that do not typically lean Republican, for example people of color or college students. I can say this is of Republican doing for a very simple reason; the minority groups targeted typically support Democrats. When you target a specific demographic(s) by making voting more and more difficult for them, ultimately they don’t vote and the end result is that the group doing the targeting receives an unfair advantage by having to deal with fewer opposition voters. HR 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act essentially places us back in the right direction after the VRA was severely hurt by an errant 2013 Supreme Court ruling. I’m particularly happy to see stringent preclearance periods indicative of the seriousness of this bill. If this bill passes, it will be interesting to see for how long it languishes in the black hole calendar of Senator McConnell.
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    Mark 's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    ARE YOU KIDDING? HAVE YOU NOT NOTICED STATES ( LIKE MY STATE OF GEORGIA) WHO ARE SUMMARILY PURGING VOTERS FROM VOTING LISTS? “ENHANCING “ VOTER ID’S? PROPOSING BLOCKAGE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM VOTING? GERRYMANDERING DISTRICTS? STEALING ELECTIONS ( KEMP OF GEORGIA...SO CALLED “ELECTED GOVERNOR “!) ENFORCE THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT!!!
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    Sheila's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Yes our voting rights should be strengthened. But republicans know they only way they win is by cheating. So I doubt any legislation to strengthen them will be passed. Cheaters gonna cheat. That’s the republican motto!
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    RAN's Opinion Against
    ···
    12/06/2019
    We need voter ID
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    operaman's Opinion Against
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Strengthening the Voting Act would be a national standards for Voter ID.
    Like (24)
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    Ticktock's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    The Republicans have made a concerted effort to restrict, limit by any means and reduce the number polling stations. These efforts are mostly directed at minorities or gerrymandering states to favor Republican candidates. They’ve weakened law ensure voting rights claiming that they are no longer needed while trying to rig elections in their favor. We need laws that favor no party and ensure that every persons vote counts equally. The penalties for rig or attempting to rig an election should be sever.
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    Celia's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    When the Supreme Court removed spending limits in election campaigns, it took away the ability for the majority of the population to match the level of donations to elected officials with the contributions of the extremely rich. When the Supreme Court determined that corporations were citizens, it violated the very framework of the Constitution, which enshrines the right that all men are created equal and therefore should, be represented equally. Only Congress can act to correct those horrible mistakes. But when you have a Senate that refuses to act on vital legislation to better the lives of citizens, the only thing citizens have left is the vote. To preserve any human rights over corporate rights in the United States of America, this Congress should protect and encourage voter participation to the fullest. Anything else is hypocrisy.
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    Kathleen's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Of course it should! It's our right to vote. It's our right for our voting to be protected and counted. We are not russia!!!
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    Thelma's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    06/29/2019
    We must restore fairness in voting, the heart and soul of this country.
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    MarianToon's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Support HR 4 Terri Sewell Strengthen Voting Rights Montana Rep Greg Gianforte carelessly VOTES NAY Kathleen Williams 2020
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    OlderNWiser's Public Comment
    ···
    12/06/2019
    Thank you for your vote to help support voters’ rights. The gerrymandering, purposeful disenfranchisement of People of Color, and the attempts of both the White House and much of the Republican Party to establish a dictatorship under the corporotacracy and present oligarchy are terrifying. One of our few tools of resistance is voting.
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    Martha's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    YES, very definitely. The Voting Rights Act, which helped thousands, millions of people to be able to vote, was severely injured when the provision (5?) about sanctioning states who thwart minorities voting, was deemed not applicable anymore (because the problem was solved?), and eliminated from the Act. It was a severe and the latest in the repub strategy for keeping minorities (who almost always vote Dem, because the Democratic Party is for equal rights) away from the polls. All has been harder at voting time since then. WHY are more Dem votes recorded, but more repub reps sent to Congress? -- unfairly-drawn districts, consolidating and weighting districts (HUGE PROBLEM), but also the Voting Rights Act which was foremost in evening out voting early on, ... must be fixed, put right, amended again.
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    davidf's Opinion In Favor
    ···
    12/06/2019
    What has occurred in the area of voting decisions since Shelby Couny v Holder shows it was wrongly decided. Republican states have used that decision to severely restrict voting access for specific group, disenfranchise others, and make voting as difficult as possible for anyone who they see as a potential threat to their power. “We the People” should mean just that. Our founding documents do not read “We the wealthy, white, and powerful.”
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