Bill Text: NJ AR77 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress to develop and enact new coverage formula to help identify and end discrimination in voting under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-04 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [AR77 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR77-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Congress to develop and enact new coverage formula to help identify and end discrimination in voting under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution urges the Congress of the United States to develop and enact a new coverage formula to help identify and end discrimination in voting under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Whereas, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress because over the years it successfully addressed entrenched racial discrimination in voting; and
Whereas, Section 4 of the Act provided a "coverage formula" that defined what constituted a "covered jurisdiction," that is a state or political jurisdiction that maintained tests or devices as prerequisites to voting and had low voter registration and turnout in the 1960s and early 1970s; and
Whereas, Under Section 5 of the Act, covered jurisdictions were prohibited from making changes in voting procedures until approved either by the Attorney General of the United States or the Third Circuit Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.; and
Whereas, In its recent decision in Shelby v. Holder, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the coverage formula in Section 4 of the Act was unconstitutional in light of current conditions and dramatic societal changes since the 1960s; and
Whereas, In his opinion for the court in this case, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that "Congress may draft another formula based on current conditions....Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions"; and
Whereas, While it is clear that a new coverage formula is needed to address any current or future instances of racial discrimination in voting in this country, it is also clear that Congress must develop and enact such a formula as soon possible; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the Congress of the United States to develop and enact a new coverage formula to help identify and end discrimination in voting under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and to every member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the Congress of the United States to develop and enact a new coverage formula to help identify and end discrimination in voting under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
