Democrats push for new Voting Rights Act

Civil rights groups fear redistricting will hurt minority voters

“This is a perilous moment for the nation’s commitment to equal citizenship, an era of voting rights retrenchment still. The current problem of voting discrimination and vote suppression is enormous and it is about to get much bigger as states and localities across the country begin their redistricting.”

WASHINGTON — Facing pressure from civil rights groups, House Democrats kicked an effort to pass a new Voting Rights Act into high gear this week, despite intense Republican opposition.

Over the weekend and during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Monday, House Democrats stated their intention to vote on the measure as soon as next week. Civil rights groups have pushed for the passage of the new bill for months, but the release of new census data last week brought the issue to a head.

Wendy Weiser, vice president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, argued that allowing redistricting to proceed without a new Voting Rights Act could allow minority voting rights to backslide. Ms. Weiser told the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on Monday that Congress should pass a new law that would allow the Justice Department to review election law changes, such as new congressional maps, before they go into effect.

“This is a perilous moment for the nation’s commitment to equal citizenship, an era of voting rights retrenchment still. The current problem of voting discrimination and vote suppression is enormous, and it is about to get much bigger as states and localities across the country begin their redistricting,” Ms. Weiser said.

Last week, the Census Bureau released a trove of detailed data that states and local governments will use for once-a-decade redistricting. Democrats in Congress along with voting rights advocates argued that some states could use the data to restrict the voting power of growing minority groups, such as Hispanic and Latino voters.

A 2013 Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v. Holder, invalidated the Justice Department’s formula for keeping states under Voting Rights Act preclearance. Prior to that decision, nine mostly Southern states had to clear any voting changes with the DOJ, ranging from polling places to new legislative maps.

Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., argued during Monday’s hearing that decision “set up a discriminatory game of whacka-mole” that surviving provisions of the VRA could not address.

Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino, said in an interview that the Supreme Court decision “basically gutted the Voting Rights Act and got rid of the protections we needed for decades.” Her group and others have backed the passage of a new Voting Rights Act, pushing Democrats to advance the legislation.

Ms. Kumar also argued that without preclearance, states like Texas will have a freer hand to draw maps that don’t give the growing Latino population more seats in Congress. In the days since the Census Bureau’s data release, dozens of civil rights groups have called on members of minority communities to advocate for more inclusive maps and urged Democrats to pass the legislation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., sent a letter to House Democrats criticizing Senate Democrats for not advancing broader legislation that would have overhauled voting, campaign finance and ethics laws. Ms. Pelosi said the House would vote on new Voting Rights Act language when the chamber returns next week.

The House passed a version of the legislation last

Congress, which was not the fact. taken up in the Republicancontrolled Ms. Clarke cautioned Senate at the against Congress legislating time. This Congress, the beyond the preclearance House Administration and provisions after several Judiciary committees held questions about how the a series of hearings on election DOJ could use changes on law changes before introducing other provisions of the Voting new language to Rights Act. build a record ahead of an Subcommittee ranking anticipated court challenge. member Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., called Democrats’ efforts

The Biden administration an “unconstitutional has backed those efforts, including federal power grab over local in testimony Monday election laws.” Mr. Johnson from Kristen Clarke, the argued Democrats have assistant attorney general bowed to advocacy groups for civil rights. Ms. Clarke who seek to control local voting argued “redistricting is a laws through a smokescreen moment where we see discrimination of discrimination rear its ugly claims. head,” and that could reemerge “It is easier for eligible if Congress did not Americans to vote than ever pass a new law. before in American history,”

“There is no doubt this Mr. Johnson said. new round of census data Mr. Johnson and other may — may — prompt the Republicans on the panel kinds of discriminatory criticized Democrats for changes that we’ve seen in planning a vote on the legislation the past,” Ms. Clarke said. before actually introducing

Democrats and advocates the language. argued that a new formula Republican witnesses at would allow a rolling consideration hearings over the past few for preclearance; an months, including the Heritage accumulation of violations Foundation’s Hans von over 20 years would subject a Spakovsky, have argued an state to preclearance for a update to the Voting Rights decade. Act is not necessary.

Several advocates and An overhaul to the law Democrats have discussed faces a steep climb in the addressing anotherSenate. Minority Leader Supreme Court decision Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has from this year, which legal opposed the bill, and only experts have said restricts one Republican, Alaska Sen. the ability to bring lawsuits Lisa Murkowski, has said alleging discrimination after she may back the measure.

— Wendy Weiser, vice president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University