U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-12th District) introduced a bill on Tuesday to establish a statutory right to vote in federal elections, aiming to counteract increasing state-level restrictions on voting access.
The Right to Vote Act would empower Americans to challenge in court any policies that unduly limit ballot access, making it more challenging for states to implement measures that hinder electoral participation.
This bill was introduced on the eighth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which eliminated the requirement for certain states to obtain federal approval before changing election laws, a safeguard initially designed to protect minority voters. The court found the pre-clearance formula in the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.
“Our right to vote is under constant attack, and we deserve to have the challenge when that right is infringed upon,” Lee said in a statement. “Ever since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we’ve seen states across the country pass racist voting laws to carve us out of our collective democracy. We can start by ensuring any attempt to keep us from participating in our right to vote in federal elections must be challenged in court and ended to preserve the fundamental values our country was founded upon.”
Pre-clearance, part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, applied to specific states and counties with histories of disenfranchising minority voters.
“Our right to vote is under constant attack, and we deserve to have the challenge when that right is infringed upon,” the statement reads. “Ever since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we’ve seen states across the country pass racist voting laws to carve us out of our collective democracy. We can start by ensuring any attempt to keep us from participating in our right to vote in federal elections must be challenged in court and ended to preserve the fundamental values our country was founded upon.”
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) introduced a Senate version of the bill in March, supported by eight senators and 25 House members, including Reps. Chris Deluzio (D-17th District) and Dwight Evans (D-3rd District).
The legislation would establish the first federal voting rights guarantee, ensuring every citizen can vote. It would prevent state and local governments from limiting voting access in federal elections and expedite judicial reviews to protect voting rights.
The Brennan Center for Justice reports that nearly two-thirds of U.S. states have enacted some form of voting restriction recently.
“The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law enthusiastically supports the Right to Vote Act, which will ensure that courts give full and fair consideration to claims that states and other jurisdictions have unnecessarily placed burdens on the right to vote,” Ezra Rosenberg, Co-Director of the Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said in a statement. “Because that right is preservative of all other rights, these protections are needed.”
