Alabama Needs the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

On Aug. 24, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 in favor of HR 4 – the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, sponsored by Alabama’s own Rep. Terri Sewell.

 If passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, the law would, among other things, restore Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and give the Department of Justice the power once again to oversee and approve any voting changes in jurisdictions, including entire states, with recent histories of racial discrimination in voting. The bill now moves to the Senate for approval, where its fate is less sure.

Last week, the Southern Poverty Law Center issued three reports – in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi – on the state of voting discrimination in the South. In Alabama, we know the importance of fighting for the right to vote. From Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the subsequent march from Selma to Montgomery that ultimately spurred the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Alabama has been central to this fight for decades. Alabama has created many barriers to voting, from requiring photo ID to outlawing curbside voting to excuse requirements associated with absentee ballots.

We know that these barriers disproportionately impact Black Alabamians. Through the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Congress can fulfill the promise of the 15th Amendment for Black Americans, ensuring that no state will deny or abridge the right to vote based on race. Previously, the Voting Rights Act was a powerful tool for people here in Alabama to challenge racially discriminatory voter suppression measures. The 2013 Shelby v. Holder U.S. Supreme Court decision weakened these provisions, opening the door for these discriminatory measures.

In the 2021 legislative session alone, we saw serious attacks on voting rights across the country, and Alabama was no exception. Along with bans on curbside voting and creating a felony for voting twice in the same election – an occurrence for which there was no evidence – the Legislature torpedoed efforts to continue the absentee voting successes of 2020 by eliminating excuse requirements on the absentee ballot application.

In Alabama, voters must swear an affidavit along with their absentee ballot application that they will be at work, out of the county, or otherwise occupied on Election Day. We know that plans and lives change, and that absentee voting is a very reliable way to vote, but the current process does not allow for any flexibility in this process. Though the effort to eliminate these requirements had broad bipartisan support early in the legislative session, the politicization of the topic by potential 2022 U.S. Senate candidates halted any progress and ultimately doomed the bill.  Secretary of State John Merrill later withdrew his support for “no excuse absentee” after facing criticism.

This is only a snapshot of the attacks on voting that came in the Alabama 2021 session. Without intervention from Congress, these assaults on this fundamental right will continue unabated. Along with the aforementioned pieces of bad legislation, there were many other such efforts that were unsuccessful this session and will likely be brought up again in the future.

It is imperative that the Senate take up this bill without delay. Please contact your senators today and let them know the importance of voting for the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (HR 4). You can find your senators’ names here, and if you’re in Alabama, you can contact Sen. Richard Shelby here and Sen. Tommy Tuberville here.  Also, use your social media platforms to raise awareness about the importance of HR 4’s passage. It’s incredibly important that our elected officials hear from constituents about the importance of this legislation and how it would impact everyday Alabamians. Your input here will add to the pressure necessary to put our movement to restore the Voting Rights Act over the top.

Katie Glenn is a policy associate for the SPLC Action Fund in Alabama.

Photo at top: U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., speaks to members of the media during a news conference after the House of Representatives passed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)