WASHINGTON – Two years ago today, the Supreme Court gutted a core provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in its Shelby County decision. Yesterday a group of senators and representatives took new action toward restoring the VRA by introducing the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would modernize the “preclearance” formula for federal oversight and make additional, critical updates to the landmark law.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the measure in the Senate. Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, introduced an identical measure in the House.

People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker released the following statement:

“We applaud Senator Leahy, Representative Lewis, and their colleagues for introducing this urgently-needed legislation.

“Two years after the Shelby County ruling gutted the heart of the Voting Rights Act, voters in cities and states that were once protected by federal oversight are facing laws that make it harder to vote – laws that disproportionately affect people of color. This is unacceptable. Voting discrimination is still a very real, pervasive problem, even if some members of Congress choose to ignore it.

“The Voting Rights Advancement Act would help protect voters from this kind of discrimination and ensure that every American is able to exercise their fundamental right to participate in our elections. Congress should take up and pass this legislation now so that we can have fairer rules in place before 2016.”

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