Congresswoman Barbara Lee Cosponsors Voting Rights Advancement Act
Bill to protect voters in states with recent history of voter discrimination
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee cosponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), legislation which restores protections for voters in states with a recent history of discrimination. Four years after the Supreme Court’s decision to gut the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, the VRAA addresses discriminatory voter ID laws, racial gerrymandering, and other voter suppression tactics enacted across the country.
“Voting is the bedrock of our democracy. No American should be denied access to the ballot box. Yet in states across the country we continue to see new barriers created to prevent Americans, especially people of color, from voting. The time to stand up and eradicate these barriers is now!”
“Support for the VRAA is particularly necessary as we approach the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision. I urge my colleagues to recommit ourselves to restoring the promise of voter equality.”
The VRAA seeks to restore protections under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 after the Supreme Court gutted it on June 25, 2013. To address the Supreme Court’s concerns with the VRA, the VRAA creates a new coverage formula and applies to states with repeated voting rights violations in the last 25 years. Should this legislation pass into law, 13 states nationwide would be subject to federal election oversight due to a recent history of voter discrimination.
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