“The 2020 Census numbers show that the United States is an increasingly diverse nation," said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, before the House Judiciary Committee. "This raises profound questions about how the next redistricting will be conducted, including whether the officials who draw congressional and legislative maps and decide districts for city councils and county commissions draw districts that are fair to all voters. This round of redistricting is the first since the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder ... severely cut back on the protections the Voting Rights Act provides.”
Clarke added: “It is now time for Congress to respond, by developing legislation that responds to our current situation, with respect to redistricting and otherwise — a situation in which voting rights are under pressure to an extent that has not been seen since the Civil Rights era.”
While much of the public debate about voting rights protection has centered on federal legislation to supersede state-imposed barriers to voting, Clarke makes a powerful case that members of Congress cannot anticipate every maneuver to curtail voting and dilute voting strength. For that, she argues, we need to reauthorize Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which would require the Justice Department to review changes to election procedures in certain states.
It’s clear now that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices that discriminate against minority groups, cannot protect against discriminatory laws on its own. The Supreme Court made sure of that by eviscerating Section 2 in Brnovich v. DNC. What is needed is an efficient review of election changes before they are implemented, which has happened effectively for years before Section 5 was gutted. As Clark explained in her testimony, “More than 800 proposed changes were altered or withdrawn in the period after 1982. ... Empirical studies demonstrate that the Department’s requests for more information had a significant effect on the degree to which covered jurisdictions complied with their obligation to protect minority voting rights.”
The upshot of reauthorizing Section 5 is simple: There is no way to out-organize multifaceted voter suppression, racially discriminatory redistricting or rigging the vote-counting process. There are no more instruments in the Justice Department’s toolbox. Only Congress can offer relief. In an unusually urgent plea, Clarke testified: “The Department will continue to use its existing tools to enforce the current laws. But that does not change the harsh reality that the Shelby County decision eliminated critical mechanisms for protecting voting rights.” She added, “On behalf of the Attorney General, we ask Congress to pass appropriate legislation that will restore and improve the Voting Rights Act, enhancing the Department’s ability to protect the right to vote in the twenty-first century and beyond.”
Still, reauthorizing Section 5 is not sufficient alone. To prevent the Republicans’ wholesale attack on voting, we need specific provisions to override barriers to the ballot, not only for protections for early voting but also for nonpartisan redistricting. No one can honestly argue that there are 10 Republicans to do any of this.
The task ahead is simple and urgent: Craft a bill that all 50 Democrats can support covering essential voting rights protections and reauthorization of Section 5. Give ample time for Republicans to get on board. Then reform the filibuster (as Sen. Robert Byrd did for the budget in crafting the reconciliation process).
That’s it. That’s the singular path to preserving an onslaught of anti-democratic voting measures designed to preserve White minority rule at a time its demographic power is diminishing. Ironically, the difference between diverse majority rule (with minority protections) and White minority rule will large rest with one White, Democratic senator from West Virginia.
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Opinion | Why the plea to Congress on voting rights is so urgent - The Washington Post
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