Voting Rights Act necessary

By Rep. Hank Johnson, as published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on March 7, 2013

The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy. The Supreme Court has upheld the Voting Rights Act four times. The law was recently reauthorized by overwhelming votes of 98-0 in the Senate and 390-33 in the House.

After listening to nearly 50 witnesses — federal and state officials, Republicans, Democrats and civil rights leaders — at 12 hearings, compiling a record of more than 12,000 pages, the House concluded the Voting Rights Act and its Section 5 were still essential.

After an equally extensive set of hearings, the Senate documented the need for continued protections against discrimination in voting, and revealed that “the work of Section 5 (was) not done.”

All of this says the Voting Rights Act is as necessary today as it was in 1965. We cannot deny the progress that has been made. We cannot let that progress blind us to overlooking ongoing efforts to suppress voters.

Just last year, states across the country passed sweeping laws including voter ID, an end to same-day registration and cuts to early voting that studies show disenfranchised millions of voters in 2012. That’s why it’s shocking that the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Before the Voting Rights Act, the South was the epicenter of voter intimidation and suppression. That’s why the act requires mostly Southern states to “pre-clear” any change to voting laws with the U.S. Justice Department. This provision remains a critical protection for voters across the South.

Shelby County, Ala., which brought the suit against the law, has had 240 discriminatory voting measures recently blocked. In 2001, the all-white mayor and city board for Kilmichael, Miss., attempted to cancel an election shortly after black citizens had become a majority of registered voters. The Justice Department required the city to hold an election. The citizens elected the town’s first African-American mayor and three African-American aldermen.

Since the Voting Rights Act’s enactment, the U.S. attorney general has objected to more than 1,000 proposed changes. Of those, Georgia had 177 proposed changes rejected, five as recently as 2009 and three in the past year alone.

In December, Justice Department objections prevented two redistricting plans with discriminatory effects on local minorities, as well as a plan to move an election date that could have resulted in 55 percent fewer black voters casting ballots.

These are just a few examples of the continuing efforts to restrict access to the polls. We should appreciate that the Voting Rights Act stops these regressive policies.

Opponents argue the act infringes on a state’s right to be free from federal oversight. What they are saying is that the Voting Rights Act infringes on the right of local officials to be free from the burden of having to fill out paperwork to justify a potentially discriminatory new election rule or voting practice.

We need this law. The disease of discrimination and voter intimidation is not yet cured.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat, represents Georgia’s 4th Congressional District.