Late in 2019, the House passed legislation to ensure all Americans have equal access to vote. H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, sponsored by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), passed in December on a near party-line vote (228-187), with one Republican supporting it.
The bill aims to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in its entirety. The landmark law was pared back after the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which essentially stripped the law of a “coverage formula” that determined which jurisdictions had a history of racial discrimination in voting policies. Those jurisdictions would then need to get permission, or preclearance, from the U.S. Justice Department or a federal court before changes to their voting laws could go into effect. As part of its 2013 decision, the Supreme Court also asked Congress to come up with a new formula to determine which jurisdictions would be subject to preclearance.
The Voting Rights Advancement Act would update the coverage formula and provide greater transparency by mandating reasonable public notice of voting changes. The bill would also enable the attorney general to send federal observers anywhere in the U.S. where there is a serious threat of racial discrimination in voting and increase accessibility and protections for American Indian and Alaska Native voters.
In a statement, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) pointed out the extensive process, including 18 hearings, that H.R. 4 went through before it was passed. “This process developed a record demonstrating that states and localities — and, in particular, those that were formerly subject to preclearance — have engaged in various voter suppression tactics, such as imposing burdensome proof of citizenship laws, polling place closures, purges of voter rolls and significant scale-backs to early voting periods,” Nadler said. “These kinds of voting restrictions have a disproportionate and negative impact on racial and language minority voters and deprive them of a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.”
Supporters of the bill also include civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate and founder of a voting rights nonprofit that sued the state’s board of elections for allegations of voter suppression.
In January 2020, Abrams and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder penned an op-ed in USA Today calling out Republicans for “gaslighting” American voters with statistics of high voter turnout during the 2018 election cycle. “The fact that people of color voted in droves in 2018 is proof that voter turnout and voter suppression can operate independently but also in relation to one another,” the two wrote. “Increases in voter turnout are also a very real response to the threat of voter suppression.”
Opponents of H.R. 4 voiced concern that the bill is an overreach of power by the federal government.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) called the bill “an unconstitutional power grab thinly disguised as a voting rights bill” in a statement to The Texan. “If this new bill were to become law, it would guarantee a federal takeover of local elections by the Department of Justice which still has not ridden itself of all unscrupulous, unethical Republican-haters,” he added.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) also expressed concern that H.R. 4 would be too restrictive for states that wanted to update election laws and that the remaining protections of the Voting Rights Act are enough to protect against voter suppression. “This bill would essentially federalize state and local election laws when there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that those states or localities engaged in any discriminatory behavior when it comes to voting,” said Collins.
The Trump administration made similar objections to the passage of the bill and has threatened to veto it if passed. “Several provisions of H.R. 4 violate principles of federalism and exceed the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution, and these provisions would likely be found unlawful if challenged,” the administration said in a policy statement.
H.R. 4 is one of several bills aimed at election reform that the House has passed in the 116th Congress. The bills are not expected to become law, though, as they face opposition from the Republican-controlled Senate and the Trump administration.
For background, see the May 2019, October 2018 and November 2006 issues of Congressional Digest on “Voting, Campaign Finance, and Ethics Reform,” “Voting Rights Act,” and “Voting Integrity.” Also see the October 2013 issue of Supreme Court Debates on “Reconsidering the Voting Rights Act.”
