Page 32 - Preclearance News Today

Its a good way to proceed. in fact, under the sensenbrenner bill, four states would be in preclearance as opposed to nine that were in preclearance under the old formula. i think it strikes a good balance. you mentioned congressman john lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement. hes very supportive of this bill. so i believe if it gets a fair consideration, it will sail through just like in 2006 when i voted for that reauthorization, as well. i was proud to support it. again, this voting right...

Politically here for republicans where they look at this and say there is simply nothing in this for us that if we do this were helping democrats? >> i really dont. i think there are some members probably representing the states that are in preclearance that feel like theyve been on the probation list forever and that their states are not the same today as they were in 1965 and, therefore, that there should be -- they should be given better consideration than has been the case given their histor...

Jurisdiction could potentially go into preclearance. we havent done well in the african-american community, therefore, we should punish them by not approving the voting rights act. i do believe our members, some still have questions because this can be a little complex for some who werent familiar with it but strikes the right balance. sensenbrenner has done a great job with it. >> republican congressman charlie dent, one sponsoring it after the supreme court ruling. thank you for your time toni...

Preclearance as opposed to nine in the old formula, so i think it does strike a good balance and mentioned congressman john lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement. hes very supportive of this bill. so i believe if it gets a fair consideration, it will sail through just like in 2006 when i voted for that reauthorization, as well. im proud to support it. again, this voting rights act is the most significant piece of civil rights legislation ever passed in american history. >> but let me ask y...

Precisely needs to be in the new section 4 that will mass muster with what the supreme court said but will be sufficiently effective to do the work of preclearance. >> what the supreme court said was that the section 4 provision cant be based on events that happened decades in the past. so we need a provision thats based on current record of discrimination in the states that are currently passing laws making it harder for people to vote. so whats been proposed in the voting rights act amendment ...

Thats what they said. the preclearance that was won because of a death. another republican optist said if this bill hurts blacks so be it. just like these two senators have said on camera. we oppose this nominee because of voting. we need a massive movement from the states that once again will change washington, d.c. we cannot have less that what we want. >> thank you so much im so excited to see you here. up next, a look ahead to the presidents speech. coming up later here today in selma. and...

Proactive right to vote. is that on the moral mondays agenda. >> for instance in north carolina our black and republican legislature put something in there but its not federal. we need that in our federal constitution. the first step is we need to restore section 4. and the problem right now is theres a bill but if that bill was passed today, we are in selma, selma, alabama would not be covered as preclearance. north carolina would not be covered. south carolina, where the confederate flag would...

Rights act should be the john lewis renewal act and in fact the supreme court said oh that voting rights act, thats so 1960s. were beyond that. you used a phrase living document. heres how we can actually revise the voting rights act because the court struck down a provision that said youre using old data for which states were compliant so lets update the database. >> and thats not a completely unfair critique. of all the things the court said in it its not completely unfair to suggest that the ...

Advocates there, they very definitely felt that this affected them too. this created an atmosphere where voting restrictions were encouraged all across the country, wherever they were happening. so restoring the voting rights act to its original strength would boost voting rights around the country. >> i want to go to congresswoman fudge on this because you represent a district in ohio. as we all have now learned, cuyahoga county has become ground zero for the attempts to restrict the days peopl...

Republicans on board. if more republicans are not coming on board and you dont feel that the bill is advancing as quickly as it needs to, does it make sense to continue to leave voter i.d. to the side? >> well, weve made a conscious decision to try to fight that battle another day because every day that goes by with without them taking up the vraa is another day we have no protection for our communities. since the supreme court struck down section five and the preclearance section, 7 million lat...