WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the National LGBTQ Task Force joined the NAACP in calling for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act as part of the “America’s Journey for Justice March.” The 860-mile march began in Selma, Alabama eight weeks ago and ended in Washington, D.C.“This summer we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic Voting Rights Act. And as we have seen — year in, year out, with one voter suppression tactic after another — the need for the VRA is as important today as it was when it was first enacted. Two years ago we faced a tremendous set back when the Court issued Shelby and gutted the VRA.
“To this day, people are being turned away at the polls and voter suppression disproportionately impacts people of color, people living in poverty, and the LGBTQ community. Our democracy is too important to be ignored. We can’t get important legislation passed, good legislators elected, or contribute our voices to the future of this country unless we are registered to vote and are actually able to vote,” said Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director.
No new Voting Rights Act legislation isneeded. The Supreme Court struck down only one provision in the Voting RightsAct – which was indeed unconstitutional, unfair, and outdated, and which was never a permanent part of the Act anyway – and there are plenty of other voting-rights laws available to ensure that the right to vote is not violated. What’s more, the principal bill that has been drafted is bad legislation. For example, it does not protect all races equally from discrimination; it contains much that has nothing to do with the Supreme Court’s decision; and it itself violates the Constitution by prohibiting practices that are not actually racially
discriminatory but only have racially disproportionate effects. The bill is
also partisan; at Senate hearings last summer, it was clear that
no Republican would favor it, because it is designed to give a partisan advantage
to the Left.