Cohen: New Report Finds Voting Rights Discrimination Still Rampant, Voting Rights Act Protections Must Be Fully Restored
Congressman again calls on House Republicans to restore the landmark civil rights law’s full protections
[MEMPHIS, TN] – On the 49th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) cited a new National Commission on Voting Rights report that found rampant voting rights discrimination in America as he once again called on House Republicans to join President Obama and Congressional Democrats in working to quickly restore the VRA’s full protections. In a 5-4 decision last year, the Supreme Court took a step backwards by striking down a critical VRA section that has helped prevent discrimination in the voting process and in states’ voting laws.
“I have said before that Chief Justice Roberts was wrong to decide that the Voting Rights Act is no longer needed,” said Congressman Cohen. “In the past, people have been beaten or even killed in the struggle to ensure the right to vote was available to all Americans. But, as today’s report shows, voting rights discrimination is still rampant throughout the country and it is clear that the Voting Rights Act’s full protections are still critical in the fight to prevent disenfranchisement.”
The report released today offers a comprehensive assessment of discriminatory voting practices including legal cases filed on behalf of minority voters, analysis of restrictive state voting laws and practices that make it harder for minorities to vote. The report found that there were at least 332 successful voting rights lawsuits since 1995, calling into question the rationale used by the Supreme Court in striking down the VRA’s protections that discrimination is not a significant problem today. The report further found that voting discrimination takes a variety of forms in addition to redistricting and that the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal observer program can provide an important deterrence against voter discrimination.
“With more than 300 successful voting rights lawsuits over the last 2 decades, it is hard to deny that voting discrimination is still a problem today,” said Congressman Cohen. “Every Congressperson should support the Voting Rights Amendment Act to restore the important protections that safeguard our democracy and protect voters from discrimination. The Supreme Court told us we need to modernize the Voting Rights Act, and we should not wait another day to do that. It’s time to pass the Voting Rights Amendment Act to ensure that the sacred right to vote is not denied to any American.”
The Voting Rights Act was enacted only after years of those in the civil rights movement marching and in some cases being beaten or dying in the pursuit of voting rights. For 48 years prior to the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Voting Rights Act helped secure the right to vote for millions of Americans.
In striking down Section 4, the Court put the civil rights of millions of Americans at risk by making enforcement of the Voting Rights Act more difficult. The Court did, however, leave the door open for Congress to revisit Section 4 and update the coverage formula to allow for proper enforcement. Congressman Cohen is a cosponsor of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014, which would address the Supreme Court’s ruling by creating a new coverage formula to identify states and localities that still have high risks of continued voter discrimination.