Democrats demand action on voting rights bill
Deborah Barfield Berry and Mary Troyan, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Democrats and civil rights groups are calling on Congress to act on legislation to restore a key provision of the Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court eliminated three years ago.
“We cannot allow our voices to be silenced and we must do whatever it takes to exercise our right to vote,’’ Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Saturday.
Saturday marked the third anniversary of a Supreme Court decision — Shelby County v. Holder — that threw out a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that determined which states and other jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination had to obtain "pre-clearance" from federal officials before making any election changes.
Most of the states were in the South, including Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
This will be the first presidential election without the provision.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/25/democrats-demand-action-voting-rights-bill/86387790/
