#John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said on Monday that he “won’t rest” until lawmakers pass national voting rights legislation, renewing his push for further reforms on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Nobody’s about to silence me on this issue of voting rights,” Warnock said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We’re going to get this done.”

In the last Congress, Democrats tried and failed to pass sweeping voting rights legislation that sought to fight back against state laws in a number of GOP states that had curtailed access to the ballot.

After the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed the House in September 2021, Democrats in the Senate were unable to get the bill through the chamber because of Republican opposition.

Now Warnock, who is also the senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was pastor until his assassination in 1968, is pressing to get federal voting rights legislation passed, arguing on MSNBC that the issue should be at the top of his party’s agenda.

“Voting rights is not just some other issue alongside other rights,” Warnock said. “It’s the very framework in which we get to fight for all the things we care about.”

Warnock’s offensive on voting rights comes after President Biden during a speech on Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist Church on what would have been the slain civil rights icon’s 94th birthday that the U.S. is at an “inflection point” for the fight for democracy.

But with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives and Democrats holding a slim majority in the Senate, the prospects of passing sweeping voting rights legislation seem slim. Republicans have signaled instead that their legislative priorities include curtailing abortion access and repealing key parts of some of the Biden administration’s most prominent legislative victories over the last two years.

[ravnlghtft]

Legislation fights back against voter suppression, updates and restores critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and her colleagues introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Advancement Act, legislation to stop state voter suppression efforts, safeguard critical voting rights protections, and restore and enhance the Voting Rights Act.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Shelby County decision in 2013—which crippled the federal government’s ability under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to prevent discriminatory changes to voting laws and procedures—states across the country have unleashed a torrent of voter suppression schemes that have systematically disenfranchised tens of thousands of American voters. The Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich delivered yet another blow to the Voting Rights Act, by making it significantly harder for plaintiffs to win lawsuits under the landmark law against discriminatory voting laws or procedures.

“The right to access the ballot box and have your voice heard is foundational to how our democracy and country works. Unfortunately, we have seen targeted attacks on this right in Wisconsin and across the country, and we need to put an end to it,” said Senator Baldwin. “Our bill honors the legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis and continues his work by curbing voter suppression, protecting Americans’ right to the ballot box, and ensuring the power is in the hands of the people.”

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is endorsed by hundreds of organizations, including the following leading civil rights organizations: Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), MALDEF, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, and Demos.

The legislation is led by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

[petervintonjr]

One month to go, my fellow voting Americans. And I wouldn't be posting this here if I didn't believe it to be important. But I've been studying too many lives of those who have come before, who risked it all to ensure your right to vote. So make a plan and do so.

Start here and make darned sure you're registered --some states are, sad to say, already resorting to blatant f**kery to keep you out of the polling place, or to otherwise disqualify you. Some states are purging voter rolls (yes, even after the primaries); double-check your registration, and then check it again:

Plan your trip --calculate the hours it's going to take, and make provisions for it. Bring along any and all required documents --in fact, over prepare on that score. Double-check the hours of your polling place, and then check them again.

Don't let anyone intimidate you into turning back; they wouldn't be going to such an effort to unnerve and scare you, if it weren't important. And no, you don't have to tell anyone who you're voting for --not for President, not for Congress, not for your state, and not for your local officials. Too many people fought for your right to step into that voting booth next month: ordinary folks who saw what was happening and quietly stood up to do what was needed. Mary Church Terrell. Bob Moses. Annell Ponder. Ella Mae Brayboy. Unita Blackwell. We all owe this honor to their memories, to their struggles.

And make a pest of yourself to your Senators and your Representative, this month. Tell them you expect them to support the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It's long past time for voting to move from the unenumerated rights column, into the enumerated rights column.

See you at the polls next month. We've a lot of work to do.

[sleepyleftistdemon]

House Democrats on Tuesday unanimously introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill named for the late civil rights leader that would restore and expand the protections of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court's Republican-appointed majority gutted in two infamous rulings in 2013 and 2021.

The House had previously passed a version of the legislation in 2021, but it failed to advance in the Senate last year when Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema sided with every Republican to support a filibuster against it.

Once again sponsored by Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell, the revised bill would establish a new formula to determine which states and localities must "preclear" any proposed changes to election laws and procedures with the Justice Department or a federal court. The previous preclearance regime, which was struck down in 2013 by the Supreme Court, applied to states and localities—largely in the South—with a history of racial discrimination in their voting laws. Its dismantling sparked a wave of GOP-backed voter suppression laws, many of which have targeted people of color.

[mybookof-you]

2023.07.17

"The Freedom to Vote Act is popular. Seventy percent in one poll — including 54 percent of Republicans — supported its passage, while 63 percent of likely voters (including 42 percent of Republicans) supported passage of the combined Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in another poll. Voter support is even stronger on specific policies such as expanding early voting, ending gerrymandering, protecting election workers, and curbing dark money...

Passing landmark federal legislation is always a long process; the 1965 Voting Rights Act was the product of over a decade of advocacy and passed only on the heels of weaker laws. The Freedom to Vote Act demands similar perseverance. It is not just the right thing to do, but also what the American people want.

Introduced 09.14.2021 by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

S.2747 - Freedom to Vote Act

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 19, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

House Republicans appear to be barreling toward a government shutdown, unable to agree even to debate a bill to fund the military. That rejection made Republican leadership pull from the floor a continuing resolution to fund the government into October. Extremist members simply refuse to agree to any bill that doesn’t cave to their demands. And, as NBC News reporters note, “The House [Republican] chaos is worse than it may appear.” The bills over which they are currently fighting cannot possibly pass the Senate. Government funding ends on September 30.

And so a small minority of extremists are threatening to shut down our government. Such a shutdown would have global as well as domestic repercussions: the Pentagon warned that a government shutdown would disrupt U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including training for military forces. Hamstringing our ability to help Ukraine stand against Russia, refusing to fund the Pentagon, and Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville’s hold on military promotions that has left more than 300 top military positions vacant all undermine our national security. This is an astonishing position for Republicans, who used to pride themselves on their support for the military. 

That such a small number of extremists can shut down our country speaks to the power of voting. Four days ago, Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a month-long tour of college campuses to mobilize younger voters to “fight for our freedoms.” Today is National Voter Registration Day, and in Reading, Pennsylvania, she noted that young people have spent their whole lives in the climate crisis, have seen the Supreme Court stop recognizing the constitutional right to abortion, and have spent their earlier years practicing active shooter drills. They are now stepping up to lead the country toward solutions.

Harris told a cheering, overflow audience at the Reading Area Community College that voting “determines whether the person who is holding elected office is going to fight for your freedoms and rights or not. Whether that be the freedom that you should have to just be free from attack, free from hate, free from gun violence, free from bias, free to love who you love and be open about it, free to have access to the ballot box without people obstructing your ability to exercise your civic right to vote, in terms of who will be the people holding elected office and leading your country.” 

The political power of young voters will be important in determining the outcome of the 2024 elections. In Pennsylvania today, Democratic governor Josh Shapiro announced automatic voter registration when people are getting or renewing a driver’s license. The governor tweeted: “We got traffic moving on I-95 in just 12 days. We delivered universal free breakfast for 1.7 million students. And today, we implemented automatic voter registration. There’s more to do, but we’re getting stuff done in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

In Congress today, the Democrats, led by Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL) reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which passed the House in 2021 but was stopped by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. 

This measure would restore and modernize the 1965 Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision gutted it. Until that decision, Congress had regularly reauthorized the Voting Rights Act on a bipartisan basis, but as soon as the decision was handed down, Republican-dominated state legislatures passed voter suppression laws, gerrymandered their states, and closed polling sites, measures that made it more difficult for Black Americans, many of whom backed Democrats, to vote. In the decade since the decision, Sewell noted, at least 29 states have passed a total of almost 100 laws restricting voting.

Sewell represents Selma, Alabama, where civil rights activist and, later, Georgia representative John R. Lewis was beaten by law enforcement officers when he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge with other civil rights activists marching for the right to vote. She noted, “Generations of Americans—many in my hometown of Selma, Alabama—marched, fought, and even died for the equal right of all Americans to vote. But today, their legacy and our very democracy are under attack as MAGA extremists target voters with new laws to restrict voting access. Ten years after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the fight for voting rights has never been more urgent.”

The reason for voter suppression was made clear again today when, in a pattern that has continued since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, no longer recognizing the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats won two elections. In New Hampshire, Democrat Hal Rafter flipped a state House seat formerly held by a Republican. And in Pennsylvania, Democrat Lindsay Powell won a special election in Pittsburgh, enabling Democrats to hold control of the Pennsylvania House.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[foreverlogical]

“Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” was Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s (D) pledge in 1963. It would be great if attitudes like that were buried long ago in the landfill of racist history. But looking at Alabama today, it can feel like not much has changed. 

Taking a page right out of Wallace’s 60-year-old playbook, Republican state legislators are fighting back against a direct order from the Supreme Court to redraw racially gerrymandered electoral maps that disadvantage Black voters.  

The legislature dragged its feet and finally responded to the court’s June ruling in Allen v. Milligan by submitting a new map with one hitch — legislators freely admit that it doesn’t meet the requirements for an additional majority-Black district. Earlier this month, judges on a federal district court panel threw out the new map and made a point of writing that they were “deeply troubled” by the legislators’ deliberate nose-thumbing.  

That was good news. But these Alabama lawmakers clearly think they can win by losing, because now they can appeal to the Supreme Court again. The Alabama House Speaker, unafraid to say the quiet part out loud, declared that since the court’s ruling against them last time was 5-4, “there’s just one judge” that needs to “see something different” for them to win this time around. 

Meanwhile, a federal court is ordering that yet another district map be drawn up by a special master and a cartographer. (When was the last time you heard of a cartographer?) The dispute sends the state's redistricting process back almost to square one. And if it isn’t resolved in time, elections could eventually go forward under the old, discriminatory map.  

And if anybody thought Alabama was alone in trying to turn back the clock, Florida has jumped into the fray. Just days before the federal court in Alabama rejected the legislature’s new map, a state judge in Florida nixed a redistricting plan there. That plan also would disenfranchise Black voters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is its biggest fan.   

Other states, including Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, are embroiled in court cases over their maps, too.   

There are probably plenty of people who will brush this off as “just politics.” But for millions of 

Americans, this is personal. And painful. 

A couple of weeks ago I had the honor to speak at the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. I’m a millennial, and in my speech, I told the crowd what I know in my heart: that my entire life was made possible by the people who fought 60 years ago for me. To see voting rights under attack again all these years later is a gut punch. 

So we do what civil rights advocates did decades ago, and we fight. Back in the 1960s, the remedy was federal legislation. It can be again; there have been two bills in Congress recently that are designed to protect voting rights against attacks, including redistricting abuses like the ones we’re seeing in places like Alabama and Florida. These bills, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, came really close to passing as a package before GOP opposition and failure to reform the filibuster killed them in the Senate last year.   

But that doesn’t mean giving up; the Freedom to Vote Act was reintroduced by Democrats in July. The John Lewis Act will be, too, as its sponsor Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) says she plans a reintroduction. Sewell, of course, is from Alabama — the eye of the storm.  

And while there might not be much chance that the current GOP-controlled House will do the right thing on voting rights — not when Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) falsely compares the latest Alabama map scheme to redistricting in New York —  we keep fighting.   

We can thank the courts for handing voters a partial victory with rulings against racist maps. But the real victory needs to come next November when we go to the polls with a clear focus: Only vote for those who will protect our voting rights. 

 Svante Myrick is president of People for the American Way.   

[hiriajuu-suffering]

Let Me Cook

The 2024 Presidential Election was stolen. I learned from Republicans if I complained enough about an election result, I will be rewarded.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not take a vote on H.R.4 which would've enabled millions of eligible voters to vote for Kamala Harris. Donald John Trump deleted millions and millions of votes through crooked Mitch from the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin - states he lost in 2020 and bullied through threat of violence into voter suppression with his poll watching supporters and fake electors. He did this to pardon his Proud Boys out of jail to hunt down likely Democratic voters in swing counties of these states so he could repeal the 22nd Amendment to stay in the presidency until the day he dies. Again, if you don't get it, I'm only doing what Republicans taught me.

On January 8th, Congress will certify the election alongside Vice President Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris should refuse to certify the election or face death threats like Mike Pence did. An armed militia should come to the capitol and "peacefully" protest the results by killing 6 people with at least one of those being officers, and injuring at least 175 people because there are more Democratic than Republican voters but the election was stolen. Bitching and whining will help me get what I want, so we think America believes.

This election was a giant conspiracy by financial and cryptocurrency industries to place Donald John Trump as the president to steal more money from the working class through the tax cuts these companies are lining up to preorder rooms at Mar-a-lago for. The Federal Reserve was also in on this conspiracy: interest rates were cut while the stock market soared when voters were led to believe inflation had cooled long before November. Our financial institutions deliberately were supporting the 45th president because they were afraid of being prosecuted by the office of the President. Americans love bad sportsmanship, so the only thing we can do to restore Democracy is make a show and mockery of the entire democratic process in this country.

We have to do everything in our power to prevent this criminal from entering the oval office ever again as he will free the basket of deplorables that will shoot every man of color on sight so they can grab their women by the pussy. And their will women will let them. And get pregnant with their babies and denied an abortion because it was part of God's plan when the president holds the bible in the most holy way, upside down. Our country has been so gerrymandered the only votes that matter are self-proclaimed Christians with the deepest levels of hypocrisy, ones that sexually assault innocent couch cushions, journalists, and pornstars. We need to resist these violent offenders, lock them up, and deport them to the shithole European countries their great-grandparents came from. If you don't get the satire yet, you're the problem.

January 8th, 2025 will be a day that will live in infamy. Either the true patriots of America will triumph or we will elect a president that tried to overthrow the government four years prior after claiming his predecessor wasn't born in this great country. Racism will continue to grow under this fascist and more individuals will keep sending anonymous racist text messages until Donald Trump is fired like the luckiest contestants on The Apprentice. Party didn't even come before country, comedy did. Down with dudebros who still get laid and the incels who brought this horrible monster into office. What a nasty man. He needs to shut up, man. Any hate comment on this only makes it stronger.

If liberal, sane minded women are going to go 4B, conservative women need to turn into sluts. They don't believe in choice anyways.

That last line was just for me.

Fuck this political climate.

[ivygorgon]

An open letter to the U.S. Congress

Pass the Freedom to Vote Act & the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act!

924 so far! Help us get to 1,000 signers!

I am writing to you as a constituent to implore you to actively support the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Our free and fair elections are under continued assault. More than half of states have enacted laws that make voting harder for millions of Americans, often targeting communities of color, lower-income voters, and people with disabilities.

In response, it is imperative to pass federal legislation to protect every American’s constitutional right to vote and ensure elections are decided by the will of the people. The Freedom to Vote Act would counteract many of the antidemocratic voting rules being passed in the states, while stopping partisan gerrymandering and reducing the dangerous role of big money in politics. And the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would make it harder for politicians to implement discriminatory voting laws in the first place.

Your constituents are counting on you to be a champion for democracy and to help ensure that our government fairly represents us all. Thanks.

▶ Created on October 9 by Jess Craven · 923 signers in the past 7 days

[rebeleden]

Rep. Sewell Speaks Out Against House Republicans’ Voter Suppression Legislation, Calls for Consideration of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act - Press Releases - U.S. Congresswoman Terri Sewell

[daisylovesrumble]

Urge Your Representatives to Support the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act | League of Women Voters

Since the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder that gutted the VRA, discriminatory voting laws have passed across the country. We must restore and strengthen the VRA by passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, vital legislation that is needed to fully restore and modernize the VRA and ensure that discriminatory voting policies are stopped in their tracks.

[originalleftist]

Pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act!

(This means electing a Democratic majority to the House and Senate who will.)

“Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year — it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Four years ago, the world lost voting rights champion Congressman John Lewis. Today we honor his 80 years of life, decades of public service, and legacy of getting into Good Trouble.

Thank you, Congressman Lewis. Rest in power. ✊🏾

[rjhamster]

Support the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Every. Single. Vote. is a non-profit organization that’s fighting to make voting easier and more accessible through statewide ballot measures. We really hope you’ll decide to join our fight, however, if you no longer wish to receive email updates, you can unsubscribe here. Last week, we asked if you wanted the newly-elected Congress to PASS the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — and…

[robertreich]

The Real Reason Congress Gets Nothing Done

Why doesn’t Congress get anything done? Well, one chamber actually does. Hundreds of bills have been passed by the House of Representatives, but have been blocked from even getting a vote in the Senate. Bills like –

The Freedom to Vote Act,

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,

The Equality Act,

Background checks for gun sales,

Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act,

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

The Build Back Better Act.

The list goes on…

So why aren’t these crucial bills getting a vote in the Senate? Because the filibuster makes it impossible.

******

Btw, if you’d like my daily analyses, commentary, and drawings, please subscribe to my free newsletter: robertreich.substack.com

******

All told, the House passed over 200 bills since the start of 2021 that have not been taken up in the Senate. Everything from investing in rural education to preventing discrimination against pregnant workers to protecting seniors from scams – bills that have real, tangible benefits for the public; bills that have widespread public support.

So don’t believe the media narrative that Congress is trapped in hopeless gridlock and

both sides

are to blame. One chamber of Congress, led by Democrats, is passing important legislation and delivering for the people. But Republicans in the Senate, and a handful of corporate Democrats, are hell-bent on grinding the gears of government to a halt.Why are Senate Republicans doing this? Because their midterm strategy depends on it. Republicans are blocking crucial legislation so they can point to Democrats’ supposed inability to get anything done, and claim they’ll be able to deliver if you give them majorities. Don’t fall for it.

[meret118]

Southern Republican lawmakers in two states are calling into question who can officially call themselves Black. After decades of efforts to sublimate Black Americans with laws such as the “one-drop rule” that would limit their power and enforce a color line, the GOP now wants to erase Black Americans altogether. This is why we need Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as soon as possible.Republicans in Louisiana and Alabama are challenging a section of the Voting Rights Act in an effort to whitewash the power of Black voters. As NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang reports, the fight is over redrawing congressional districts in Alabama and Louisiana in the wake of the 2020 census. How the Supreme Court rules on an Alabama case will set the stage for what it means to be “Black”—and how these states define someone