{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr4-116/featured_voting-rights-advancement-act-of-2019-1575676928.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr4-116/featured_large_voting-rights-advancement-act-of-2019-1575676928.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr4-116.png"},"introduced_on":"2019-02-26","title_override":"Should the Voting Rights Act be Strengthened?","summary_override":"

This bill — the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 — would seek to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 after the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder ruling, which struck down one of the VRA’s key provisions. It would aim to accomplish that through the establishment of new criteria for requiring preclearance of changes to voting practices in states and political subdivisions of states.

Under this bill, a state and all of its political subdivisions would be subject to preclearance of voting practice changes for a 10-year period if:

15 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 25 years; or
10 or more violations, at least one of which was committed by the state itself, occurred during the previous 25 years.

Additionally, a political subdivision would also be subject to preclearance for a 10-year period if three or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years.

A state or political subdivision that obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a voting practice to deny or abridge the right to vote would be exempt from preclearance.

Furthermore, this bill would specify that certain practices that are known to be discriminatory must be must be precleared before any jurisdictions implement them. These policies would include the creation of at-large districts, provision of inadequate multilingual voting materials, and cuts to polling places.

The bill would also expand the circumstances under which a court may retain the authority to preclear voting changes made by a state or political subdivision, or the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) may assign election observers to enforce the guarantees of the 14th or 15th Amendments or any other federal law protecting U.S. citizens’ right to vote.

This bill would also require states and political subdivisions to notify the public of changes to voting practices. Finally, it would revise the circumstances under which a court must grant preliminary injunctive relief in a challenge to voting practices.

Under the terms of this bill, 11 states — Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia — would be identified as meriting a return to federal oversight of any electoral changes they want to make.

","official_title":"To amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to revise the criteria for determining which States and political subdivisions are subject to section 4 of the Act, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 This bill establishes new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changes to voting practices in these areas may take effect. (Preclearance is the process of receiving preapproval from the Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights.) A state and all of its political subdivisions shall be subject to preclea...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Voters; election districts; election officials; states’ political subdivisions; states; elections; and voter protections.","argument_for":"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.","argument_against":"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. 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Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Elections Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/elections/black_elections-1429042069.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/elections/grey_elections-1429042069.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/elections/white_elections-1429042069.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"legal-affairs","name":"Legal Affairs","slug":"legal-affairs","description":"The US Congress regulates many aspects of American Legal Affairs, including: the US Federal Courts(Appellate and District), Judges, the US Supreme Court, Civil Action, The Constitution and Constitutional Amendments.","page_title":"US Federal legislation related to Legal Affairs, including the Constitution and the Supreme Court - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/legal-affairs/black_legal-affairs-1429042044.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/legal-affairs/grey_legal-affairs-1429042044.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/legal-affairs/white_legal-affairs-1429042044.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"states","name":"States","slug":"states","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding States. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"States Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/black_states-1453508817.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/grey_states-1453508817.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/states/white_states-1453508817.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"voting-rights","name":"Voting Rights","slug":"voting-rights","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Voting Rights. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. ","page_title":"Voting Rights Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/voting-rights/black_voting-rights-1429042059.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/voting-rights/grey_voting-rights-1429042059.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/voting-rights/white_voting-rights-1429042059.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Steven","vote_count":140,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/ZPoPJjQw/large_zpopjjqw-1575270009.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/ZPoPJjQw/small_zpopjjqw-1575270009.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/ZPoPJjQw/tiny_zpopjjqw-1575270009.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/ZPoPJjQw/following","followers":"/api/users/ZPoPJjQw/followers"},"about_me":"Social Democrat, former intern for a State Representative, and lifelong Texan.","twitter_id":"StevetheTXbass","facebook_id":"","youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":15,"is_following":null,"influence_score":150,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":6,"following_count":1,"position_count":7,"id":"ZPoPJjQw","partner_id":null},{"name":"jimK","vote_count":523,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/large_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/small_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/tiny_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/following","followers":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/followers"},"about_me":"Retired, Politically Independent. Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":42540,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1444,"following_count":76,"position_count":516,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"f3dfec64-5d0b-42b3-b1d8-2e9bcf997802","argument_for":"Shame Rep. Wright voted nay. Really doesn’t help your party that’s currently being accused of widespread voter suppression in that south. And it especially doesn’t help YOU considering you represent suburbs (although you’re gerrymandered into Ellis of course)! We’ll see how that fairs in 2020 when Dem control the TX house.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":1,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/f3dfec64-5d0b-42b3-b1d8-2e9bcf997802"},"body":"Shame Rep. Wright voted nay. Really doesn’t help your party that’s currently being accused of widespread voter suppression in that south. And it especially doesn’t help YOU considering you represent suburbs (although you’re gerrymandered into Ellis of course)! We’ll see how that fairs in 2020 when Dem control the TX house.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2019-12-06T20:34:06.801Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/f3dfec64-5d0b-42b3-b1d8-2e9bcf997802.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr4-116","user_id":"ZPoPJjQw","endorser_ids":["9odrQBnb"]}}

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Should the Voting Rights Act be Strengthened?