Page 11 - Preclearance News Today

That it was okay. that is what happened at the shelby county case. so that gutted section five of that. preclearance. and then more recently, the supreme court looked at what was remaining for doj section two. and you know, doj can still sue over this law. but you can only win if you prove a state legislature in acted one of these laws with an intent to discriminate. and absent prove that intent was the reason for this new restriction or this new role of that vote to go into place. you are not e...

#. >> good morning mika and joe. we lost the status quo from 1965 to 2013. basically, what the supreme courts decision did is really end what was called preclearance. its really the safe guard of the vra, if states try to change voter identification loss or states try to change early voting polling access, they had to clear that, preclear that with the justice department. and for states like, texas is my adopted hometown, states like texas for example as soon as shelby decision was passed, they ...

How important it is and we need to stop those laws before theyre enacted. preclearance is very important, and well continue to fight for it. >> the president seems to be taking on a new tone. republicans are frequently -- hes asking what they are for. thats what hes saying about republicans. hes also saying they were not as obstructive i should say back in the obama era. mitch mcconnell responding to that tonight. listen. >> the reason weve not been speaking recently this year is because he adop...

Years since he served as a young assistant in the regan administration and fought elements of the bipartisan reauthorization of the voting rights act of 1962 one of the most consistent lines in his jurisprudence as chief justice is weakening democracy protections and undermining federal voting rights law and essentially, what he has done is put a dare down in front of the congress and, you know, said i am -- we are going to knock down the preclearance, which really was the beginning of the enorm...

The john lewis voting rights act were to deal with decisions handed down by the supreme court particularly around preclearance in some of those states that have historically had problems with black voters. and ensuring the right to vote. and the other changes were things like ensuring, you know, mail-in ballots were valid and requirements for drop boxes to be present and making the election day a holiday. i mean, really pretty simple things. and they couldnt get it done. i think it is going to h...

And swing at this in the next congress next year. a very uphill climb, though, craig. >> indeed. i want to remind our viewers whats inside the two bills that weve been talking about that are under consideration, the john lewis voting rights act updates the voting rights act of 1965, requires cities and states to get preclearance from the voting department before changing laws. then theres the freedom to vote act. it outlaws partisan gerrymandering, protects election workers and implements campai...

Rights act and look what we have now. nine years ago, the supreme court took direct aim at that act in she belby v. holder and rid of preclearance. i want people to understand. it means that if you change your voting laws and youve got a history of discriminating against black people or other minorities, you have to submit those changes to the justice department or to a federal court and explain why they are not discriminatory. and if theyre not discr discriminatory, then you go ahead and do it....

Have to protect these rights whether its codifying roe or codifying the national floor of voting rights or restoring their preclearance is ability to pass legislation through the congress. but in the congress they now have to reach this super majority in the senate, which that gives a veto to the same red states. so what were seeing i think is kind of a pincer movement from several directions, which is driven by the uniform as you point out resistance of senate republicans but fundamentally enab...

Who else can administration or democrats do? >> there are limited options. as laura pointed out, this sup presume court undermined the federal votes rights act twice in terms of rolling back the preclearance provision and more recently by weakening section two thats the basis of the legal challenges of the justice department is filing against some state laws lake georgia and texas. very unlikely to yousucceed. it is difficult to change the political balance of power in the states in part because...

Of those workers. make interfeing with voter registration a federal crime, enhance transparency and create a federal obligations for campaigns to report instances of foreign interference. can you imagine that is what the republicans and those two moderate senators are actually blocking? as for the john lewis voting rights advancement act, the bill would reverse the 2013 supreme court decision that struck out portions of the voting rights act of 1965 that require certain states and cities to obta...