Society, the Campaign Legal center and the committee for civil rights under law. Shes on Voter Protection efforts for two president ial campaigns and spent several years in federal Government Services at the department of justice and the Environmental Protection agency. Welcome. I know im not doing this in order. The national cochair of the commission for the voters justice and also the president and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition and served as the head of the committee for civil rights under law in february of 89 until june of 2016. Renowned for her contributions on critical justice issues including passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991, 20 of six reauthorization provisions of the Voting Rights act. Welcome. Denise lieberman the director of advancement power and democracy program. Ms. Lieberman works to identify and remove systemic failures of voting. A seasoned constitutional civil rights lawyer she works on the ground in misery in addition to advancing broad protection initiatives nationwide engaging in the political lobbying, legal advocacy, litigation and Community Building to advance Electoral Reform including spearheading a nationwide advocacy efforts to combat Voter Registration. Welcome. Serving as a chief executive officer for the league of women voters and the United States where she is leaving the organization to appear in the Rapid Transformation and growth focused on building power by engaging advocacy, legislation, litigation and organizing efforts centered around the issues of the voter rights and reform. Prior to joining the league in 2018 she served in an organization at the forefront of the immigrant Rights Movement representing nearly 100,000 members. As you announce you will see a system in front of you and when you begin to like to turn green. And you have one minute left, youll see the yellow light and whelight andwhen you see the re, please prepare to wrap up. You are recognized for five minutes. Thank you. Members of the subcommittee, i am the Campaign Director for all voting is local, but Collaborative Campaign of the leadership education fund. The fighwe fight to dominate discriminatory barriers to voting before they happen. Since 2018 we worked in arizona, florida, ohio, pennsylvania and wisconsin. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. The system is broken in 2016 problems presented 1 million voters from casting a ballot. These problems disproportionately caused voters of color, young people, voting with disabilities. In the past two Decades Congress has recognized the need for strong federal protections for the right to vote in the helping america vote act in 2002 and three authorizing the Voting Rights act in 2006. Both passed with strong bipartisan support and a robust record. In 2013 the Supreme Court justices go to the criminal protections in the preclearance system. Since the shelby case states and localities across the country have arrested a barriers to voting without critical. Federal protection are as vital today as they have been for the past century. They were provided for record turnout of eligible americans voted at a rate of less than 50 and faced insurmountable obstacles. Officials sometimes simply for not voting in 2010 until 2018, the secretary of state now governor brian kent had more than 1. 4 million voters. Some states are still more committed to purchase and to ensure accurate maintenance process. In 2018, georgia is law into question the registration status of 50,000 voters for a minor inconsistency in the registration record. Just recently the ohio secretary of state admitted that the system had errors just shy of half a million votes. Many of them africanamerican and low income voter lowincomee purged this year under the system. In 2018 they faced largescale changes. The leadership education funds report found that in section five there were 1,173 fewer places in 2018 than in 2014. Despite last novembers record turnout. The county arizona they closed 171 polling locations. After 2012 the most of any county studied in the report. Widespread changes lea made to e over use of provisional ballots. The analysis of 717 under section five counties from the voters and the counties from the polling place closures are more likely to be asked to cast a provisional ballot. They contemplated that they would be used as a safe space but they are less likely than the regular ballots. They are in over use as the canary i in a coal miner the cof signaling the systemic problems that result in voters not knowing when or how to vote. Our campaign and analysis has found strong connections to race. In philadelphia 41 of africanamericans are five times as likely to get a provisional ballots than those in allegheny, 12. 7 or 4 black. In 2018, africanamerican students taste unique barriers to voting. At ohio, voters had a disproportionate number of ballots and were twice as likely to have their ballots rejected and those countywide. In florida in 2018 at the end of the university of the states and the only major public campus without the early both sides. Voters of color were more likely to have problems voting by mail in an analysis of the state of voters in mostly White Communities are less likely than those living in communities of color. In arizona just over 1 of native American Voters are on the states prevented early voting list compared to approximately 80 . In 2018 strict voter id laws targeted africanAmerican Voters with the most surgical precision as the Fourth Circuit in 2018 in the North Carolina law. The campaign had hundreds of wisconsin voters through the arduous process of complying with the states it. Its been found with more than 20 of africanamerican registered voters compared to just 8. 3 of those registering. The Administration Process can and should be used to expand access to the valid fo ballot fl eligible americans. Too often they become interior to voting disenfranchising millions of eligible americans particularly voters of color. Any is one too many. Congress must restore and expand safeguards for the right to vote ensuring every eligible american regardless of race, income, age or ability can make their voice heard. Thank you. Thank you very much. Chairwoman highranking member davis and members of the subcommittee. My name is virginia and i served as the chief executive officer of the league of women voters and the United States. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on Voting Rights an issue of paramount importance. Of the league of women voters is nonpartisan with nearly 100 years ago in 1920 those that understood the importance of securing Voting Rights for women. Its acted in all 50 states as well as the district of columbia with 764 local affiliates in every Congressional District in the country. In 1965 to Voting Rights act outlawed Racial Discrimination voting and established to protect equal access to the right to vote for everyone. Despite th a history of support from the legislators of all Political Parties in 2013 the Supreme Court overturned the key provisions in the case of shelby county. Since the decision, across the country theyve passed unnecessarily restrictive legislation and adopted practices that discriminate against a disenfranchised voters of color and minorities whose first language is not english. Making it harder for them to register and much more difficult to vote. These restrictive legislative initiatives include an effort to implement thincluding efforts tn states like texas, wisconsin, missouri and pennsylvania. They pushed back against the efforts and we push back against efforts to roll back and eliminate the covert reform like preregistration and sameday registration in North Carolina. Essentially the decision weakens the Voting Rights act is a mechanism to fight discrimination by striking down important preclearance and oversight provisions. These suppressive walls have a major impact on our election. Successive long lines in urban areas, consolidation of the polling sites with little or no notice, reduction in the early voting hours and participation, massive voter purges, no effective notice that caused the barriers on election day, and inadequate number of machines in areas where early voting showed a clear voter participation. It is unlikely that this was incidental or unintentional. But instead expressly targeted the population of the new american majority. Including the minorities, youth and income sensitive individuals. In effect, they shut out millions and denied citizens the protection of the right to vote. If these barriers protested the 116th congress has been momentous opportunity to restore the Voting Rights in this country. The opportunity to strengthen the Voting Rights act by creating a new formula that would trigger the preclearance to certain changes to the voting law and the administrative practice is needed now more than ever and the creation of the notification process that lets all voters know when changes to the process may occur and ensures that they are informed prior to them showing up at the polls on election day. If Congress Fails to act immediately, this will be the first redistricting cycle to occur without a fully functioning Voting Rights act and allow the states to push through unjustifiable changes to their wall that would have a direct impact on voters for a decade. Without continued oversight in safeguards to protect from all backgrounds is much to organizations like the league of women voters and other nonprofit groups to implement protect those effect by these policies and practices, but that should not be the role of the league and our partners. It is the responsibility of the government to create and enforce laws that create barriers and the democracy our forefathers designed to foster an open, transparent government by the people, for the people. It is the duty of government to protect the rights of voters and encourage participation in the nonpolitical systems not create barriers that prevent participation. As we have for nearly 100 years before we look forward to working across the aisle to determine the point of consensus for any legislation considered before congress, and we look forward to working with elected leaders to protect and uphold their responsibilities and ensuring that they have the unobstructed ability to exercise the right to vote. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on the importance of disturbing the Voting Rights act and i look forward to taking questions and continue to work if you all. Thank you very much. You are recognized for five minutes. Thank you, chairwoman. [inaudible] thank you for the opportunity to testify today on this topic. I want to dedicate my remarks to the memory of the congressman elijah cummings. Ive already been introduced and im here representing the commission for voter justice which hes represented here today by baltimore and i want to make sure that we get this into the record that this commission was formed in july of 2017 to respond to them. Of the Voter Suppression measures. Also many will recall President Donald Trump had a pervasive voter fraud and subsequent creation from the president ial Advisory Commission on election integrity. We felt that there was an urgent need to counteract this dangerous and erroneous negative but instead provides an account of the urgent need for the protection of our democracy from the insidious threat of the modern era of Voter Protection. I created the map of shame in april of 2011 which was the First National to expose and educate the American Public about the rise of the contemporary Voter Suppression measures. Theres been directed a substantial regiment of disenfranchising barriers and the ability to have the votes counted for the millions of eligible. In january, 2018, the commission upheld a series of hearings compiled over state reports looking at Voting Rights and have engaged in many Voter Education and other efforts. One thing that we heard in june of 2018 from donald jones at the university of miami was that the only real proper way to look at what we are in his understanding thais understandingthat when itg rights in america is [inaudible] that is how extreme this is. This reality against the rights of american citizens to exercise the right ttheir right to vote e their votes counted and supported by mounting evidence when we consider them. If the Voter Suppression law, the multitude of the Voting Rights cases filed at the federal courts, the numerous reports documenting actions by the states to ente impair the rs of the citizens to vote and have their vote counted and the continuing negative cases for the Supreme Court and the new insidious threat addressing the social media as documented by this select Commission Investigative report. We also have created a new tool and document that is called the 61 forms of Voter Suppression and let me be very clear that a year ago this was less than 30. The creativity, the insidiousness, the rapid expansion of the Voter Suppression measures is that extreme and growing. If i were to do this today i would probably add more. That shows how creative the states are being and how persistent they are being in pursuing this. Major findings of the hearings have been already expressed by some in the testimony, but i just want make clear there are two critical things that we need to appreciate today. One is when shelby v. Holder was decided. We are 18 months into that regimen of the moderate Voter Suppression. About the impact of the absence of a preclearance mechanism. In the second thing i want to make clear is that nothing in the world can substitute for preclearance. To prevent Racial Discrimination and that in this era of massive Voter Suppression, that this is the effective regimen that exists its not enough. We want to commend congress and commend you for this hearing and we have things we would like to move into the record. The testimony of reverend Chelsea Jackson in the 61 Voter Suppression and of course i would like to experiment remarks. Thank you so much. With no objection. Thank you very much. Ms. Miss lieberman. You know now recognized five minutes. Thank you. Thank you bowling is important meeting on voter rights. My name is denise lieberman, and the director and advancement object office. Advancement project is the Racial Justice organization that works into partnership with grassroots organizations that develop Community Based solutions that are inspired by the tactics that produce the earlier landmarks summarize victories. We are proud to stand behind our monday partners on the ground in those states and their fighting battles for Racial Justice and the right to vote. And the need is great. We are with the greatest help for the democracy hall. Since the post reconstruction era. I am particularly gratified chairwoman, that the subcommittee has chosen to have a peoples panel. Because our fight to protect the right to vote, and the need for congress to take definitive action, to secure the right to vote for all citizens, lies in the lived experiences of the people for whom protection is most need it and the people whose voices are most often silenced. Because at the end of the day right to vote, it is about selfdetermination and the right of people to make decisions about their own lives. In their own destinies and it is about dignity. If societies structural mechanism that says you cant. Literally. Thats when the right to vote is denied, or abridged, it says you dont count. And so this is the very personal matter. Is much is it is policy, it is legal and we need to understand all of the statistics. It is deeply rooted in the basic human dignity. Of all people. This body takes, are going to be need it to be justified in legal challenges on the record of the lived experiences of the people who these measures impact most. So this project has been pleased to work in collaboration with other members of the Racial Equity anchor collaborative. To support this subcommittee field hearings that you have helped, or the last eight months, documenting the state of Voting Rights in jurisdictions around the country. Anchor collaborative members which include advancement project, asianpacific islander American Health forum, the most patient action, the naacp. The National Congress of american indians, the national relief, raised forward and to us are all dedicated to advancing the Voting System that is pretty fair and accessible to all people regardless of Race Ethnicity and ability are like witch proficiency. In addition to helping identify leaders on the ground to testify, the anchor collaborative partners, embarked on a robust passthroughs effort to look at the voices of everyday voters of color and their experiences. So to complement the field hearings, we conducted a series of people series and we select in select states. To get a firsthand account of this Voter Suppression. After the creation of my website, we felt we count, we are voters across the country can share their voting experiences. We held hearings in states like alabama and North Carolina and ohio and North Carolina and south dakota, georgia, florida, texas, and heard from voters firsthand. Witnesses there, attested to among other things, having to wait in long lines cast ballots because they were denied by ballots being died denied disability levels, having to restore their restaurant registration status after legal purge. Undertaking honor barriers to restoring the writing writers after criminal fiction. Having to stand at the last minute changes of hours and voter intimidation. The impact of voter id laws, extra early voting, the increasingly scarce Public Places and everchanging locations, which present significant burden for those that went out easy access to transportation or impossible work schedules. And the results were clear, since the loss, voters of color across the country are credited with new barriers casting a ballot. We documented these reports in a soontobe released report and we vote we count, the need for congressional action to secure the right to vote. For all citizens. Which includes testimonies from african americans, asian americans, native hawaiian, specific islanders, hispanics and native americans to first count accounts provide a glimpse into the actual access to the ballot and run the state. And they are compelled to be a disembodied to be taking action to restore the provisions of the Voting Rights act. Focus our own country his voters have lost confidence in the wake of the shelby decision and the ability of the department of justice to fairly secure the right to vote. Is we know, that the shelby decision and the stacked on the right to vote, around the country and designed to curtail the growing political power of others in color is they emerge into the new american majority. So we thank you today congresswoman and members of this committee are holding the steering. Please heed the words of these voters across the country and take action to secure federal protection for the right to vote. Thank you. Thank you all so much. Mr. Regula, you know recognized for five minutes. Thank you. Ms. Lieberman, ill share with you and then we will work our way down because you spoke about a barriers annual report. Contact me about some of the most common barriers. We take testimony we got on the country and we seen quite a few, talk to us about what your research tells you are those barriers the you often find. But also specifically, if the panel could talk a little bit about vulnerable and emerging populations. The types of barriers for those constituencies face. Absolutely. We saw was that voters were reporting difficulties in every step of the process. From registering to vote to casting a ballot to having those ballots cant be seen rising discriminatory butter procedures. Processes for being able to prevent register to vote. Particulate honor policies for people who are attempting to restore the rights to vote. Either after the purge or after the rights suspended due to a felony conviction. We just rephrase him last week in louisiana, during early voting, the farmers who despite having gone to numerous Government Agencies in wake of last year his passage of precepts, to restore voting for people with felony convictions for five years. They were still unable to have the ballot despite jumping through numerous tubes and hurdles. They were per se basic throughout the processes. Pulling closes and changes it to having driving numerous hours in witnesses in alabama testified to the closure of over 30 dmv locations and counties. Sometimes they had to drive up to four hours to get to appalling. I could go on and on but these populations are significantly impaired. In northern dakota, witness testify to any county that has a 36 percent poverty rate, people having to drive numerous hours just to get all of the underlying documents to get the ids in order to vote on that scifi default. So we found is they were per se pervasive throughout the voting process. We found that the population we looked at were africanamericans, latinos, native americans, asian americans, low income voters, voters with disabilities, student voters, formerly incarcerated persons, newly nationalized citizens, voters displaced by natural disasters, and homeless voters. These are some of the most vulnerable voters and they are really in the brunt of the Voter Suppression. By our calculations, millions of voters have been denied or blocked from voting income from those categories. Not to mention those who are lgbt and may have changed their identity name or identity. We found that the measures, the 61 forms allowed is that is how monday there really are, so monday more. But the former, but is our witnesses talk about, targeted full closures. Exact match requirements for registrations and for accounting absentee ballots. The replaced polling sites, student campuses which is now a big spike again that was a huge issue in florida and coming out of our hearings, there was a lawsuit filed. It challenged the refusal polling places of student campuses in florida for early voting. In the one. They were able to have those polling sites in 2018. We also heard about voter casing especially michigan. And in monday other states texas, alabama, that was one of our first hearings that we really start to realize up front by the third beer renew, they refused problems in our country. I still think realistically the ability to intercept in spite of voter purging has been one of the weakest parts of our community his ability to respond. It is problematic which is widespread when there is no activity going on to stop it. Id, failure to file state procedures, we saw that in south carolina. They failed to file their own procedures is to staffing and polling places. Resulting in literally, the longest lines. Targeted by minority neighborhoods. We also saw abusive different index between white and equal color judge jurisdictions. Staffing, racial tampering, comes to early voting, on and on. Im in have to cut you off. If you want the other two to quickly fine. Sorry. So i will go quickly. When we see people who have become re enfranchised and to be in great incarcerated. There are additional eggs acquiring them for example a fourday fine, restitution in order to be able to do that. Everything was amusing that we try to overcome those barriers, are the ones that are putting peoples faces. Recently we had a court decision, illegal voters part of that case, we now are very concerned that we are going to see partisan rhyming racial gender mentoring is partisan gender mentoring because there is basically a green live for that. Weve seen broken down election equipment. The league is on duty every election day of the year looking at every Congressional District. Looking at staying what is happening on the ground. We had a six hour line in georgia because of broken down voter equipment. And we are doing Rapid Response. It should not be the responsibility of nonprofit organizations like ours to have to do Rapid Response because of the government its not doing what theyre supposed to be doing to help those voters. Senior citizens Rural Communities minorities you have all having difficulty accessing id. Thirdparty Voter Registration commercialization, what recently happened in tennessee that we are able to fight back in, and once again. Since just these constant attacks that communities are facing and we need organizations like ours will be responsible for addressing these. Thank you. Thank you just by the way, the director of the women voters was on the purge list in ohio. Is ended and weve had monday situations like this. One of the ellis Voting Rights organizations in the country and work. Do not made it through very quickly. I will. Thank you. I would like to highlight from my fellow analysts have said, is that the problems that American Voters are facing, are not singular, they are stacking. A voter who has a problem i can take a voter id, then gets to the polling place and has to drive miles to get through the polling place in his line at the voting location. These problems are not singular in their origin. In our solutions are response to them, needs to be across the spectrum. Needs to be both federal statutory protections as well is state administered protections. Laws and practices that expand access to the ballot particularly in communities of color. Thank you. Let me just for a moment, pretend that im justice rober roberts. [laughter] and i would just like deep for you to make the case for why we should fully reinstate the writing act and what you think the frequenters should look like if you have any idea. Start at your end here. Thank you. Between 2013 and 2018, there were almost 1700 polling places the closed informer section five jurisdictions. The Leadership Conference aviles just earlier this fall report discussing these changes. 75 percent of those, happened between 2014 and 2018 despite the increase in turnout, and 2018. But her suppression is pervasive. Voters in this country face extraordinary barriers to the ballot. Our ability to vote and the ability purging lay of communities of color to vote, is frankly, miraculous in live of the barriers that they face. This is especially true in section five areas. But ideologues, a lack of access to early vote, particularly in communities of color. Restrictive hours of early vault, these problems are widespread and they are purse basic. We are seeing the kinds of improvements to them that we need to be. What preclearance loves to do is to understand not only that changes are happening with the impact that they have that went out preclearance, we can understand fully the impact on communities of color. It is vital to the preclearance be resort resort. Thank you. If you know justice roberts, [laughter] i would see that we have three bodies of government for a reason. That the Supreme Court his job is to surf is representative of the american people. And we see people his rights being violated, time and time again in the most fundamental rights that we have is citizens of this country is our right to vote. To have our voice heard. That the Supreme Court has a responsibility to protect that right so that every citizen is considered equal. We talked about equal on law. We should be equal in the ballot bucks. Enemies removing barriers for them for each citizen. To exercise the right i would see that there are already remedies that you will have in place. They have been proposed. Once we are really in favor of his formula on representative still. It is statewide having more violations over the past 25 years. At least one of which was committed by the state itself. And political subdivisions, three or more violations during a calendar years. On right violations of the 14th and 15 violation. You have all of this information. I dont want to waste is it too monday people time, theres just is it too much to read off. We support these formulas. And we think that Congress Must act. They must act now because we are coming into very serious collections in this coming year. Asking this question. Most of what you know talking about really goes back to the original, 14 or so jurisdictions. What about states like ohio this nut was not covered in preclearance. What about states like pennsylvania. In wisconsin. One of the things the Supreme Court was concerned about they were determined that state that the incisional record in the data is so old they cant prove that they should still be held to the same standard of preclearance. The leaving and breathing process meaning that it doesnt end after a certain amount of time that an annual basis we are able to look further been violations and is one of those protections are in place and we are seeing them happening. It has expanded. It hasnt gotten better. In fact his cutting worth in 2013, we have seen that time and time again. Thank you. First, and the shelby decision, you spoke very powerfully about the fact that we all recognize that there still exists this termination in voting. And you felt that congress had not done his job. Since then, congress has been very keen of looking at what are in fact modernday conditions. That exist between the states and among the states when it comes to voter accessibility and voter fairness. We know, at this. In this eight years that occurred since 2011, is that the states that were previously covered, by preclearance have in fact, and some of the worst records for not only holds closures but for purchase that literally millions of others have been affected by that. That those voters deserve the coverage and the protection of our law or country they did not have to be subjected to that the voter denial before they are able to have the votes counted properly that you also have you told this congress to come up with a new set of coverage formula. It is the design to look at both violations or that are the most extreme. They denied the most voters the right to participate. Says your directive, to congress. We held hearings, the impound and looked at reports of what is happening in those states, we are able to come up with a formula that captures for preclearance, states that are engaging in the worst activities. At the same time, we also have recognized that in this modern era we have got to come up with some additional standards that we just cant look at voter turnout anymore. We cant look at the old standards. Instead what we need to look at now, is to make sure that there is on notice provisions, to make sure our national skills, your concern that states are able to be held accountable. We believe we have done our job. And that you should uphold our new legislation. Thank you very much. I agree with everything my fellow panelists have said. Writing is on the wall here. In the first year after the shelby decision came down, 73 percent of the previously covered jurisdictions, introduced restrictive writing was. They been reintroduced in 25 states since 2010. We have seen through the stories of individuals that shelby has had mild not just a farmer preclearance statement states around the country. To continue to make voting harder and more confusing and more onerous and more burdensome. Not only that, not only did shelby open the door to discriminatory practices that wouldve been halted at the outset undercurrents but also made it more difficult to challenge those laws and duly placing the burden on already underrepresented voters of color and advocates. So since shelby that went out the laws stopgaps. The evidentiary burden and the cost associated with these challenges has fallen even more heavily on the very impacted communities but these laws are designed to protect. To this channel challenge denials of their fundamental right to vote. And so, it is very clear that that is simply not tenable. Its not working and congress has the opportunity right now before it with hr for tampa limit federal her name protections to place the burden where it should be on the pacs of the Government Agencies that are seeking to implement new restrictive running changes that show that they are not discriminatory. That i think you all can represent of the time. Thank you all for being here and i thank you for your testimony. Is much. The other hand i think has arrived yet. Right. Okay. Theyre on their way over. Thank you all again very very much. [background sounds]