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Long title | An Act 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. |
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Sponsored by | Terri Sewell (D-AL) |
Number of co-sponsors | 215 |
Citations | |
Public law | 52 USC Ch. 103 |
Codification | |
Acts affected | Voting Rights Act of 1965 |
Legislative history | |
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The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2023 (H.R. 14) is proposed voting rights legislation named after civil rights activist John Lewis. The bill would restore and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, most notably its requirement for certain jurisdictions to seek federal approval before enacting certain changes to their voting laws. [1] The bill was written in response to the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, which struck down the system that was used to determine which jurisdictions were subject to that requirement. [2] [3]
On August 24, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill by a margin of 219–212. [4] On November 3, 2021, the bill failed to pass the Senate after falling short of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture. [5] A second attempt to pass it on January 19, 2022, as part of a combined bill with the Freedom to Vote Act, also failed. Again falling short of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture, the bill then failed to pass a vote to be exempted from Senate filibuster rules. [6]
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (also known as the VRA) stated that some jurisdictions needed to seek approval from the federal government to implement certain changes to their election laws. Section 4(b) had the formula for determining which jurisdictions were subjected to this requirement. It applied the requirement to any jurisdiction that had voting tests in place on November 1, 1964 and a turnout of less than 50% in the 1964 presidential election. [7] To receive approval for new election laws, the jurisdiction would have to prove to either a three judge panel of a Washington, D.C. court or the US Attorney General that the new procedure would not negatively impact the right to vote on the basis of race or other minority status. [8]
On June 25, 2013, the United States Supreme Court struck down section 4(b) by a 5–4 decision in the case of Shelby County v. Holder . The court found Section 4(b) of the VRA unconstitutional because it was outdated. Invalidating section 4(b) left the federal pre-clearance requirement in Section 5 without a formula to determine what jurisdictions were subject to it. This had the effect of rendering the pre-clearance requirement inoperant until a new formula replaced the one that was struck down. [8] [9]
The Supreme Court ruling allowed many states to begin putting in new restrictive laws regarding the right to vote. Texas had announced it would put in place a strict voter I.D. law less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court decision was announced. [lower-alpha 1] [10] Many other states that were previously not allowed to enact voter I.D. laws because of the VRA's federal pre-clearance requirement were able to do so. [11]
The Supreme Court decision has also led to an increase in voters being purged from voter rolls. [12] Research from the Brennan Center suggests that some 2 million more people were purged from voter rolls between 2012 and 2016 than would have been if Section 5 of the VRA had been left in place. [13] [14]
Notably, North Carolina passed HB 589, [lower-alpha 2] a bill which put in a strict photo I.D. requirement, eliminated same-day voting registration, and shortened the early voting period, among other restrictive policies. [15] One policy in particular limited early voting on Sundays, which North Carolina admitted in court was because counties that offered it were likely to have higher black populations. [16] [17] HB 589 was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on the basis that the law was designed to "target African-Americans with almost surgical precision". [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
For the US Government to be able to prevent more restrictive laws from being passed without federal pre-clearance, it would need to find a new formula for the Voting Rights Act that would satisfy the Shelby County v. Holder decision, which is what the John Lewis Voting Rights Act was written to do. [23]
After the 2020 presidential election and efforts to overturn it, many Republican-controlled state legislatures began passing bills that made it harder to vote, which opponents of the bills alleged would disproportionately deter racial minorities from voting. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
The first provision in the John Lewis Voting Rights Act strengthens voter protections in Section 2 in response to Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee .
The next portion in the John Lewis Voting Rights Act broadens cases in which the U.S. Attorney General may send federal observers to jurisdictions the courts have deemed necessary, as well as allow for the courts to block all new election policy in a wider range of circumstances. It does so by amending applicable portions of the VRA that say "violations of the 14th and 15th Amendment" to also include "violations of this Act, or violations of any federal law that prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group." [30] [31]
The next portion of the act reinstates the federal pre-clearance requirement for new election procedures in certain states by creating a new formula that satisfies Shelby County v. Holder . The act's new formula would subject jurisdictions that meet these criteria to the requirement:
The act counts any of the following as a voting rights violation:
The act states that the attorney general will make the determinations as early as can be practiced within a calendar year, and keep an updated list of all voting rights violations. The determination becomes effective when it is published in the Federal Register. [30]
State | Covered by VRA of 1965 [32] | Covered by John Lewis VRA [lower-alpha 3] [33] |
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Alabama | As a whole | As a whole |
Alaska | As a whole | Not covered |
Arizona | As a whole | Not covered |
California | Certain counties | As a whole |
Florida | Certain counties | As a whole |
Georgia | As a whole | As a whole |
Louisiana | As a whole | As a whole |
Michigan | Certain townships | Not covered |
Mississippi | As a whole | As a whole |
New York | Certain counties | As a whole |
North Carolina | Certain counties | As a whole |
South Dakota | Certain counties | Not covered |
South Carolina | As a whole | As a whole |
Texas | As a whole | As a whole |
Virginia | As a whole | As a whole |
The bill would also expand the changes to election procedure that would require federal pre-clearance, occasionally with unique standards for being subject to the requirement (i.e. the percentage of the population that is considered a racial minority). [30]
Any state or subdivision that has either:
Must get federal pre-clearance before implementing any of the following policies:
Any change to the boundaries of electoral districts in a state or subdivision would need federal pre-clearance if they meet either of the criteria:
Any change to voter I.D. requirements that is stricter than the one described in the Help America Vote Act, or any change that will make voter I.D. requirements more stringent than on the day the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is enacted, would be required to seek federal pre-clearance before being implemented. [30]
Any alteration that reduces the amount of multi-lingual voting materials or changes the way in which multi-lingual voting materials are given out to people would need to seek federal pre-clearance, unless a similar alteration occurs in the English voting materials for an election. [30]
Any change that would reduce, relocate, or consolidate voting locations (including early, absentee, and election day voting locations), or reduce the number of days or hours of early voting on Sundays would be subjected to the pre-clearance requirement if they meet either of these criteria:
Any change to election policy that adds a new reason to remove a person from a voter roll or puts in place a new process to remove a person from the voter roll must seek federal pre-clearance (if it is a jurisdiction within the state):
And if the state itself is imposing such a change then it must seek pre-clearance if:
For the states that already met the requirements for federal pre-clearance under the new formula provided, the bill states that they will also have to seek approval for any new procedure under the new covered practices. It allows states that are covered to seek approval from a three-judge panel or the Attorney General, and allows any appeals of either of these to go to the Supreme Court. [30]
The bill allows both the Attorney General or any ordinary person to sue a state if they believe that they are avoiding federal pre-clearance. The act says that a three-judge panel will determine if a policy needs federal pre-clearance, and until the court has made that determination, the policy is blocked from going into effect. [30]
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The bill has been supported by Senators Raphael Warnock (who used to his first floor speech to advocate for its passage), [34] [35] and Joe Manchin. [lower-alpha 4] [36] [37] President Joe Biden advocated for the passage of the bill in his first address to Congress. [38] [39] Senator Jeff Merkley said that the best way to honor the legacy of John Lewis was to pass the bill, and tweeted that passing the bill was his "top priority". [40] [41] Senator Blumenthal cited several recent restrictive voting laws as being part of the reason for his support. [42] Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf also called on the Senate to pass the bill, and to consider "suspending" the filibuster if it was necessary for it to pass. [43]
In July 2021, over 150 companies signed a letter supporting the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, including Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, PepsiCo, IKEA, Nestlé USA, Macy's, and Target, among many others. [44] [45]
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed opposition to passage of the bill, and said that its passage is "unnecessary" because there is currently "no threat to the voting rights law". [46] [47] Republicans have argued that the act is an attempt to federalize control of state elections to the Democrats' advantage. [48] [49]
Congress | Short title | Bill number(s) | Date introduced | Sponsor(s) | # of cosponsors | Latest status |
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114th Congress | Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 | H.R. 2867 | June 24, 2015 | Terri Sewell (D-AL) | 179 | Died in Committee. |
115th Congress | Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 | H.R. 2978 | June 21, 2017 | Terri Sewell (D-AL) | 193 | Died in Committee. |
116th Congress | John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020 | H.R. 4 | February 26, 2019 | Terri Sewell (D-AL) | 229 | Passed the House. |
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act | S. 4263 | July 22, 2020 | Patrick Leahy (D-VT) | 47 | Died in Committee. | |
117th Congress | John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 | H.R. 4 | August 17, 2021 | Terri Sewell (D-AL) | 223 | Passed the House. |
S. 4 | October 5, 2021 | Patrick Leahy (D-VT) | 48 | Cloture not invoked. | ||
Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act | H.R. 5746 | October 27, 2021 | Don Beyer (D-VA) | 5 | Cloture not invoked. | |
118th Congress | John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2023 | H.R. 14 | September 19, 2023 | Terri Sewell (D-AL) | 215 | Referred to committees of Jurisdiction |
S.4 | February 29, 2024 | Richard Durbin (D-IL) | 49 | Referred to committees of Jurisdiction |
The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Terri Sewell on February 26, 2019, as H.R. 4. Originally planned to have been included in the For the People Act, Democratic leadership decided to keep it separate because of anticipated court challenges. [23] The bill had 229 co-sponsors. [50] The bill passed the House of Representatives (228–187) as the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 on December 6, 2019. All Democrats voted in favor of the legislation, and all but one Republican voted against it.
The bill was introduced in the Senate as S.4263 by Senator Patrick Leahy after John Lewis' death in July 2020. The bill received 47 co-sponsors. All Democrats in the Senate had co-sponsored the bill. [lower-alpha 5] The only Republican to co-sponsor the bill was Lisa Murkowski. The Senate, which was controlled by Republicans, did not bring the bill up for a vote.
The bill was originally titled the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, but was renamed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act one week after his death in 2020. [51] No senator had introduced the bill into the Senate at the time of his death, so when it was introduced in the Senate, it took his name. The bill had already passed the House of Representatives under its former name before John Lewis's death. H.Con.Res.107 was agreed to in the House to change the short title of the bill to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.
The act was introduced in the House on August 17, 2021 by Terri Sewell. [52] It received 223 co-sponsors. [53] The bill passed the House of Representatives on August 24, 2021 (219–212). All Democrats voted in favor of the legislation, and all Republicans voted against it. The bill later failed in the Senate after it was unable to receive enough votes to invoke cloture. [5] A second attempt, where Democrats embedded the act into a combined bill with the Freedom to Vote Act, also failed. Democrats then attempted to change the rules to exempt the bill from the filibuster, but Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema opposed the change. [54] [6]
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights protected by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act sought to secure the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country. The National Archives and Records Administration stated: "The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most significant statutory change in the relationship between the federal and state governments in the area of voting since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War".
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history".
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but they can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken. Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature. Parliamentary procedure requires that any action of a deliberative assembly that may alter the rights of a minority have a supermajority requirement, such as a two-thirds vote. In consensus democracy the supermajority rule is applied in most cases.
Voting rights, specifically enfranchisement and disenfranchisement of different groups, has been a moral and political issue throughout United States history.
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), also known as the Motor Voter Act, is a United States federal law signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 20, 1993, that came into effect on January 1, 1995. The law was enacted under the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution and advances voting rights in the United States by requiring state governments to offer simplified voter registration processes for any eligible person who applies for or renews a driver's license or applies for public assistance, and requiring the United States Postal Service to mail election materials of a state as if the state is a nonprofit. The law requires states to register applicants that use a federal voter registration form, and prohibits states from removing registered voters from the voter rolls unless certain criteria are met.
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 is a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote. It dealt primarily with discriminatory laws and practices in the segregated South, by which African Americans and Mexican-American Texans had been effectively disenfranchised since the late 19th and start of the 20th century. This was the fifth Civil Rights Act to be enacted in United States history. Over an 85-year period, it was preceded only by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, whose shortcomings largely influenced its creation. This law served to more effectively enforce what was set forth in the 1957 act through eliminating certain loopholes in it, and to establish additional provisions. Aside from addressing voting rights, the Civil Rights Act of 1960 also imposed criminal penalties for obstruction of court orders to limit resistance to the Supreme Court's school desegregation decisions, arranged for free education for military members' children, and banned the act of fleeing to avoid prosecution for property damage. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Enforcement Act of 1870, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1870 or First Ku Klux Klan Act, or Force Act, is a United States federal law that empowers the President to enforce the first section of the Fifteenth Amendment throughout the United States. The act was the first of three Enforcement Acts passed by the United States Congress in 1870 and 1871, during the Reconstruction Era, to combat attacks on the voting rights of African Americans from state officials or violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, 557 U.S. 193 (2009), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court regarding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in particular its requirement that proposed electoral-law changes in certain states must be approved by the federal government. In a 9–0 decision, the Court concluded that the district was eligible to apply for an exemption (bailout) from this section per Section 4(a), because the definition of "political subdivision" in Section 14(c)(2) included a district of this nature. In an 8–1 opinion, the Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of that provision, citing the principle of constitutional avoidance.
Georgia v. Ashcroft, 539 U.S. 461 (2003), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court found that a three-judge federal district court panel did not consider all of the requisite relevant factors when it examined whether the 2001 Georgia State Senate redistricting plan resulted in retrogression of black voters’ effective exercise of the electoral franchise in contravention of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 5, which only applies to those states or political subdivisions that are considered “covered” under Section 4(b) of the VRA, requires that before any change in voting procedure can take effect, it must be precleared by the federal government by a demonstration that the change would not "lead to a retrogression in the position of racial minorities with respect to their effective exercise of the electoral franchise.” The Court held that the district court analysis was incorrect “because it focused too heavily on the ability of the minority group to elect a candidate of its choice in the [safe] districts,” without giving proper consideration to other factors such as the state's creation of additional influence and coalition districts. Accordingly, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case to the district court to examine the facts using the new standard announced in its opinion.
A filibuster is a tactic used in the United States Senate to delay or block a vote on a measure by preventing debate on it from ending. The Senate's rules place few restrictions on debate; in general, if no other senator is speaking, a senator who seeks recognition is entitled to speak for as long as they wish. Only when debate concludes can the measure be put to a vote.
Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986), was a United States Supreme Court case in which a unanimous Court found that "the legacy of official discrimination ... acted in concert with the multimember districting scheme to impair the ability of "cohesive groups of black voters to participate equally in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice." The ruling resulted in the invalidation of districts in the North Carolina General Assembly and led to more single-member districts in state legislatures.
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices; and subsection (b) of Section 4, which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subject to preclearance based on their histories of racial discrimination in voting.
Voter suppression in the United States consists of various legal and illegal efforts to prevent eligible citizens from exercising their right to vote. Such voter suppression efforts vary by state, local government, precinct, and election. Voter suppression has historically been used for racial, economic, gender, age and disability discrimination. After the American Civil War, all African-American men were granted voting rights, but poll taxes or language tests were used to limit and suppress the ability to register or cast a ballot. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 improved voting access. Since the beginning of voter suppression efforts, proponents of these laws have cited concerns over electoral integrity as a justification for various restrictions and requirements, while opponents argue that these constitute bad faith given the lack of voter fraud evidence in the United States.
The U.S. Congress enacted major amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2006. Each of these amendments coincided with an impending expiration of some of the Act's special provisions, which originally were set to expire by 1970. However, in recognition of the voting discrimination that continued despite the Act, Congress repeatedly amended the Act to reauthorize the special provisions.
Abbott v. Perez, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the redistricting of the state of Texas following the 2010 census.
The Freedom to Vote Act, introduced as H.R. 1, is a bill in the United States Congress intended to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders.
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 594 U.S. ___ (2021), was a United States Supreme Court case related to voting rights established by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), and specifically the applicability of Section 2's general provision barring discrimination against minorities in state and local election laws in the wake of the 2013 Supreme Court decision Shelby County v. Holder, which removed the preclearance requirements for election laws for certain states that had been set by Sections 4(b) and 5. Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee involves two of Arizona's election policies: one outlawing ballot collection and another banning out-of-precinct voting. The Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision in July 2021 that neither of Arizona's election policies violated the VRA or had a racially discriminatory purpose.
The Voting Rights Act of Virginia is a Virginia law that prohibits racial discrimination in voting and establishes a preclearance provision for proposed changes to election administration, among other provisions. It is modeled after the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and is the first voting rights act enacted in the American South.
Allen v. Milligan, 599 U. S. 1 (2023), is a United States Supreme Court case related to redistricting under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). The appellees and respondants argued that Alabama's congressional districts discriminated against African-American voters. The Court ruled 5–4 that Alabama’s districts likely violated the VRA, maintained an injunction that required Alabama to create an additional majority-minority district.
The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York (NYVRA) is a New York state law modeled after the federal Voting Rights Act that is designed to prevent racial voter suppression and discrimination. It is named after the late civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis. The act prohibits voter suppression, including vote dilution, voter intimidation, voter deception, and voter obstruction. It also establishes preclearance requirements for certain jurisdictions as well as expanded requirements for jurisdictions with a certain number of adult citizens with limited English proficiency.