Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam recently signed a sweeping voting rights measure that other states should follow.
Northam, a Democrat, approved the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, a critical move to protect the right to vote for Black and Latino voters and others even as Republican-controlled state legislatures nationwide move to enact legislation to restrict voting access.
While other states are threatening voting rights, Virginia took a major step to protect the right to vote.
Virginia’s adoption of this bill will make it the first state in the South to enact a state voting rights act.
The act will help protect and expand access to the ballot box, which is necessary nearly eight years after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the most powerful part of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act.
In June 2013, the Supreme Court voted to end the requirement in the Voting Rights Act that states with a history of discrimination in voting, mainly in the South and including Virginia, get federal approval before changing the way they hold elections.
The new Virginia legislation would require local election officials to get public comment or pre-approval from the attorney general for voting changes, and it empowers voters and the attorney general to sue in cases of voter suppression.
It also requires local election officials to provide voting materials in foreign languages under certain conditions.
The legislation advanced over the objection of Republicans and local government associations that warned it could strain localities and lead to costly litigation.
The legislation is strongly supported by civil rights advocates.
Marcia Johnson-Blanco, co-director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, praised the bill in a statement.
“The Voting Rights Act of Virginia shows just how far a state with roots from the darkest days of racism in this country can come, and will be a model for the entire nation,” Johnson-Blanco said.
Leah Aden, deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), said: “As we confront the worst attacks on voting rights in decades, Virginia’s decision to approve comprehensive legislation to protect the right to vote is one we applaud. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder has unleashed a wave of voter suppression in the United States. For example, earlier this week LDF and other civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit against Georgia’s sweeping law that is designed to create barriers to voting for Black voters and other voters of color. Even as some states such as Georgia force through discriminatory voting laws, creating barriers to the ballot that disproportionately affect voters of color, Virginia sets an example for the important role that states can play in bolstering existing federal protections for the right to vote. Virginia’s legacy of voter suppression cannot be ignored, and its Voting Rights Act is an important step toward reconciling that history.”
Virginia joins California, Washington and Oregon in enacting a state voting rights act, and sets an important precedent for other states to follow.
We urge other elected state officials nationwide to follow Virginia’s example and pass legislation that protects voters and ensures our democracy.
On the federal level, we urge the Senate to pass the For the People Act, which recently passed the House. The act is a comprehensive federal overhaul of election law that could effectively override many changes being enacted in Georgia and considered elsewhere.
The legislation is meant to counter the more than 250 bills that have been introduced in 43 states that would change how Americans vote, according to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice, which backs expanded voting access. Some measures would limit mail voting, cut hours at polling places and impose restrictions that amount to an assault on voting rights.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
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