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House Democrats on Tuesday passed a sweeping voting rights bill named after Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., The late civil rights icon.
John Lewis’s Advancement of Voting Rights Act passed 219-212. All Republicans voted against the legislation.
The bill is part of a larger campaign by Congressional Democrats to strengthen election laws at the federal level to combat restrictive election laws passed in Republican-ruled states like Texas and Georgia. However, he faces strong opposition in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.
The House returned from its recess this week to consider the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a resolution for the Democrats’ $ 3.5 trillion budget package, which includes funding much of President Joe’s legislative agenda. Biden. The procedural motion used to pass the multibillion-dollar resolution paved the way for a House vote on the voting rights bill, which was reintroduced last week by Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala .
The legislation would require states with a recent history of discrimination to seek federal “preclearance” to change their election laws, which directly relates to the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The ruling gutted the preclearance system in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which civil rights advocates said was successful in blocking proposed voting restrictions in states and localities with a history of racial discrimination.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said in a statement last week that Congress has “not only a rock-solid constitutional mandate, but a moral responsibility” to pass the bill.
Shortly before it was passed, Pelosi told the House that the bill would honor Lewis’ legacy.
“We should have the right to vote and should not be diminished by anyone. It is unpatriotic to undermine the ability of those who have the right to vote, who have access to the ballot boxes,” she said. “As John knew, this precious pillar of our democracy is under attack by one of the worst voter suppression campaigns since Jim Crow.”
This is not the first time that House Democrats have addressed election law. In March, House Democrats passed the For the People Act, a sweeping bill that seeks to change campaign finance, voting and ethics laws.
The bill would expand access to the ballot box by creating automatic voter registration across the country by registering eligible voters whenever they interact with government agencies, restoring the voting rights of former incarcerates, expanding advance voting and modernizing the country’s voting systems.
However, Senate Republicans obstructed voting rights legislation in June and the vote to advance an amended version of the People’s Law split 50-50, below 60 votes. required. All Democrat-aligned senators voted to start debate, and Republicans voted unanimously to block the bill.
Passing the electoral measure was the final vote of the week for the House, whose members are leaving Washington and will not return until September 20.
Haley talbot contributed.
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