Right now, we’re facing a renewed wave of anti-voter efforts from President Trump, his friends in Congress, and state lawmakers across the country. 

But there is a solution. Rep. Terri Sewell just reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would help protect voters nationwide from discrimination and voting restrictions by restoring and strengthening protections from the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Why do we need to strengthen the Voting Rights Act?

In 2013, the Supreme Court case Comté de Shelby c. Holder struck down a key part of the VRA. Before this decision, some states and counties with histories of racial discrimination, including all of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, had to get federal approval before changing their voting laws. This process, called “preclearance,” helped stop unfair voting restrictions that targeted people of color.

Since Shelby, these states have passed many discriminatory voting laws that would not have gotten federal approval before. According to the Brennan Center, at least 31 states have passed 114 restrictive voting laws. These laws limit access to voting and make it harder for people of color to cast their ballots. Here are some examples:

North Carolina’s Strict Voter I.D. Laws

Right after the Shelby decision in 2013, North Carolina passed a law requiring voters to show an I.D. at the polls. This part of the law was abattu by a federal appeals court in 2016 for «target[ing] African-Americans with almost surgical precision.” 

But North Carolina lawmakers kept pushing for voter I.D. rules. In 2018, voters approved a state constitutional amendment requiring photo I.D. to vote. Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the legislature’s bill implementing the amendment, saying that it once again targeted “minority, poor and elderly voters.” Republicans in the legislature overrode his veto, but this law was blocked by a federal appeals court two years later in 2020.

Finally, in 2023, the state Supreme Court allowed the voter I.D. rules to move forward. The 2024 election was the first time the law was used. While only a small number of ballots were rejected, 30% of those belonged to Black voters, who make up only 20% of the state’s voters.

Florida Restricts Voter Registration Groups

In April 2023, Florida passed Senate Bill 7050, which made it harder for groups to help people register to vote. The law requires these groups to re-register with the state before each election, submit forms on a shorter timeline, and bans people with past felony convictions from handling registration applications. It also drastically increases financial penalties for mistakes.

While certain parts of the bill have been blocked in court, the increased fines remain. This makes it risky for nonprofit voter registration organizations to operate in Florida. For many, the maximum fine of $250,000 nearly matches or even exceeds their entire operating budget. The co-president of the League of Women Voters Florida appelé the provision “a liability trap.”

Georgia Drastically Limits Ballot Drop Boxes in Major Counties

Georgia’s Senate Bill 202 placed limits on the number of ballot drop boxes that each county can have, limiting them to no more than one for every 100,000 voters. It also requires the boxes to be kept inside early voting locations and limits their hours to 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

This makes it harder for voters who vote early or by mail. In 2022, around a quarter of all voters in Georgia saw their travel time to a drop box increase compared to 2020. 

The law also disproportionately targets voters of color. More than half of the voters who used drop boxes in the 2020 general election lived in four major counties, where about 50% of the voters are people of color. 

Texas Makes a Big Push to Restrict Voting Through Many Avenues

In 2021, Texas passed Senate Bill 1, which restricts voting in many ways. It banned certain voting options that were popular in diverse areas, tightened vote-by-mail rules, and increased access for partisan poll watchers. It also criminalized local election officials distributing mail-in ballot applications unless explicitly requested.

During the first election under this law in 2022, 12% of mail in ballots were rejected because they didn’t meet the new strict and unnecessary requirements. 

The good news is that key parts of S.B. 1 have been abattu in court after lawsuits were brought by civil rights advocacy groups.

Multiple States Require Proof of Citizenship to Vote

In 2013, Arizona passed a law requiring proof of citizenship to vote. The Supreme Court gouverné that the state couldn’t require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, but to get around this ruling, Arizona created a “split ballot.” If a voter can’t provide documents like a passport or birth certificate, they can only vote in federal elections

While Arizona’s proof of citizenship laws have made their way through the courts, with some being blocked or struck down, Arizona still has split ballots. Aujourd'hui, if you are unable to verify your citizenship by 5:00 PM on Election Day, you are not able to vote in state or local elections.

Other states, like New Hampshire, Alabama, and Kansas, have also made attempts to require proof of citizenship to vote. This type of law makes it harder for voters who can’t procure the right documents, married women whose names no longer match their birth certificates, and Native Americans.

Several States Significantly Reduce the Number of Polling Locations

Since the Comté de Shelby decision, the number of polling places has dropped significantly. Between 2018 and 2022, over 100,000 polling places closed. While a variety of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have contributed, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act has played a major role in this reduction.

In Georgia, one of the states that previously required approval to make changes to election policies, Comté de Shelby drove poll closures. In 2015, Governor Brian Kemp, who was secretary of state at the time, wrote a memo to county elections officials urging them to close polling locations. He mentioned the Supreme Court decision twice in the memo, reminding officials that they no longer had to submit changes to the Department of Justice for approval.

Bans on Giving Out Snacks and Water to Voters Waiting In Line at the Polls

Some states, including Georgia and Florida, have passed laws banning volunteers from giving food or water to voters waiting in long lines. These laws target “line warming,” a practice that helps voters stay in line to cast their ballots. Some of these laws have been blocked in the courts, but others remain in place.

One of the parties challenging the law in Georgia, which has been partially upheld, talked about the warm weather in 2016 that made people faint while waiting in line to vote. These anti-line warming laws are particularly harmful when you consider the reduction in polling locations over the last decade, which has caused much longer lines at the locations that remain open.

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act could help restore the protections against racial discrimination that Comté de Shelby c. Holder stripped away. If you believe in fair and free elections, join us in telling Congress: reject baseless anti-voter attacks and instead focus on a real solution: the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.