Bill Text: CA AJR13 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 50-21-1)

Status: (Passed) 2015-09-21 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 193, Statutes of 2015. [AJR13 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AJR13-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: AJR 13	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  193
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 17, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 17, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ridley-Thomas
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen,
Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Grove,
Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, and Wood)

                        APRIL 7, 2015

   Relative to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 13, Ridley-Thomas. The Voting Rights Act of 1965
   This measure would recognize August 6, 2015, as the 50th
anniversary of the signing of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This measure would also urge the Congress and President of the United
States to continue to secure citizens' right to vote and remedy any
racial discrimination in voting.



   WHEREAS, Signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon B.
Johnson, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of
federal legislation in the United States; and
   WHEREAS, One hundred and forty-five years ago, in 1870, Congress
ratified the 15th Amendment, which declared that the right to vote
shall not be denied or abridged on the basis of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude; and
   WHEREAS, By 1910, violence and intimidation resulted in nearly all
black citizens being disenfranchised and removed from the voter
rolls in the former Confederate States, undermining the promise of
equal protection under the law; and
   WHEREAS, Native American, Latino, and Asian American/Pacific
Islander communities experienced similar attempts to disenfranchise
citizens in their communities throughout the United States; and
   WHEREAS, Between 1870 and 1965, voters faced, "first-generation
barriers," such as poll taxes, literacy tests, vouchers of "good
character," disqualification for "crimes of moral turpitude", and
other tactics intended to keep African Americans from the polls on
Election Day; and
   WHEREAS, During the 1920s, African Americans in Selma, Alabama
formed the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL). During the 1960s in
partnership with organizers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, the DCVL held registration drives and classes to help
African Americans in Dallas County pass the literacy tests required
to register to vote. On March 7th, 1965, the first march from Selma
to Montgomery took place. The march, nicknamed "Bloody Sunday" for
the horrific attack on unarmed marchers by armed police, was
broadcast nationwide and led to a national outcry for the passage of
the Voting Rights Act; and
   WHEREAS, Often regarded as one of the most effective civil rights
laws, the Voting Rights Act was passed with the intent to ban
discriminatory voting policies at all levels of government; and
   WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act is credited for the enfranchisement
of millions of minority voters as well as the diversification of the
electorate and legislative bodies throughout all levels of
government; and
   WHEREAS, Before Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act was added in
1975, language minorities were disenfranchised from the electoral
process. Section 203 required certain jurisdictions to provide
registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or
other materials and information regarding the electoral precess in
the language of the applicable minority group; and
   WHEREAS, In June of 2013, the Supreme Court struck down key
sections of the Voting Rights Act that were designed to prevent
discriminatory voting policies that can disenfranchise minority
voters; and
   WHEREAS, Despite 50 years of progress, racial minorities continue
to face voting barriers in jurisdictions with a history of
discrimination; and
   WHEREAS, To build a stronger and more cohesive state and nation,
we must continue to help advance the cause of voter equality and
equal access to the political process for all people in order to
protect the rights of every American; and
   WHEREAS, We must continue to educate the next generation about the
importance of civic engagement in our communities; now, therefore,
be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature recognizes August 6, 2015,
as the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of
1965, and recognizes the significant progress made by the Voting
Rights Act to protect every citizen's right to vote; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Legislature honors and remembers those who
struggled and died for this freedom; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Congress and the
President of the United States to continue to secure citizens' right
to vote and remedy any racial discrimination in voting; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.