A recent report by the United States Commission on Civil Rights found that the voting rights of people throughout the country, particularly minorities, are lacking in federal protection. The findings are troubling, but even more troubling is that Congress has failed in its duties to devise a formula for protecting one of the most sacred civic rights.
The bipartisan commission, made up of six Democrats and two Republicans, found that, since the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County vs. Holder, federal action against discriminatory election practices have declined sharply.
In the Shelby County decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a special provision within the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that allowed the Justice Department’s to review changes in voting rules in nine states, most of them in the South, and parts of six others. The qualifying states had demonstrated a pattern of discrimination against minority voters in 1965, but the Court argued that criteria no longer applied in 2013, and the provision violated the principle of federalism.
The ruling was met with much criticism in progressive circles — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a widely cited dissent that argued the ruling was “capable of much mischief.” But the justices encouraged Congress to devise a new formula for reviewing changes in voting law, a formula that would not target particular states.
No such formula has been passed in the five years since the Shelby County decision. This is yet another disgraceful display by a Congress that seems intent to preen for the spotlight and ignore critical issues affecting millions of Americans.
In its report, the Commision on Civil Rights found that at least 23 states have enacted “newly restrictive statewide voter laws” since the Shelby County decision. These have included closing polling places, eliminating early voting, and imposing restrictive voter ID laws.
“Citizens in the United States — across many states, not limited only to some parts of the country — continue to suffer significant, and profoundly unequal, limitations on their ability to vote,” said Catherine E. Lhamon, the head of the commission.
The commission’s recommendation for solving this issue is not radical: Congress should do its job. It calls for a “streamlined remedy to review certain changes with known risks of discrimination before they take effect — not after potentially tainted elections.”
This is what the Supreme Court encouraged Congress to do five years ago.
Action is better late than never, and action from Congress on this issue would be still be welcome. But it should act fast. Many citizens are already frustrated by Congress — a whopping 78 percent of Americans disapprove of Congress, according to a recent Gallup poll. Fail to protect the right to vote and Congress will be sure to see that figure rise.
First Published September 20, 2018, 10:30 a.m.