ACLU Vote Recommendation on H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act

The ACLU sent this letter to the House of Representatives urging Members to vote “yes” on H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively nullified the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance protections, one of its most powerful enforcement tools that requires states and jurisdictions with documented histories of voting discrimination from enforcing new voting rules unless they were shown to be nondiscriminatory. While many states have taken the Shelby County decision as a green light to enact discriminatory voting restrictions with impunity, in delivering the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts expressly invited Congress to update the Voting Rights Act's protections based on current conditions of discrimination. The ACLU urges passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act Voting and reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.