WASHINGTON — Today, Rebekah Caruthers, Vice President, Fair Elections Center, issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives once again introduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act:
“It is beyond time we pass federal legislation that protects the American people from escalating attacks on their right to vote. Heading into the 2024 elections, our government has still failed to pass federal laws preventing discriminatory voting restrictions that were previously prohibited by the Voting Rights Act. State legislatures have been able to get away with voter suppression through shortening polling hours, racially gerrymandering districts, mandating strict voter IDs, and reducing the number of drop boxes. As a result, it is harder for Black, brown, and young voters to cast their ballots.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act can provide our nation with baseline protections for voting rights that will help millions of voters more easily navigate and participate in America’s electoral process. The provisions of this bill will reinstate essential protections of the Voting Rights Act, restoring the federal government’s ability to review and block racially-discriminatory voting restrictions at the state and local level. Our elected leaders must act now to protect our Democracy and modernize the most successful civil rights law in history.
