86R6624 KSM-D
	By: Reynolds	H.C.R. No. 31

	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, Since the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated the Voting
	Rights Act of 1965 with its decision in Shelby v. Holder, many
	citizens have confronted new barriers to participation in our
	democracy; and
	WHEREAS, During the Civil Rights Era, the United States
	Congress passed the Voting Rights Act to prevent government at all
	levels from enacting laws or policies that deny American citizens
	the right to vote based on race or ethnicity; one of the key
	provisions, Section 5, requires jurisdictions with a history of
	discrimination to obtain prior federal approval of changes to
	voting rules that could affect minorities; for nearly five decades,
	this provision, known as preclearance, served as a bulwark against
	disenfranchisement, blocking discrimination before it occurred;
	and
	WHEREAS, On June 25, 2013, in its Shelby decision, a sharply
	divided Supreme Court rendered Section 5 inoperable by invalidating
	as antiquated Section 4(b), the formula used to determine the
	states and localities covered by preclearance; absent
	congressional resolve to update the formula, lawmakers in many
	states and districts seized the opportunity to revive voting
	changes that had been blocked, to move forward with changes
	previously deterred, and to implement new discriminatory
	restrictions; such measures included draconian voter ID laws, the
	elimination of early voting opportunities, and the closing or
	moving of hundreds and likely thousands of polling sites; all of
	these actions, which disproportionately affected minorities,
	low-income communities, people with disabilities, and students,
	would previously have required federal approval under Section 5;
	and
	WHEREAS, Court rulings and studies alike have shown that in
	the wake of Shelby, discrimination is widespread; the nonpartisan
	Election Protection coalition undertook a comprehensive review of
	the 2016 presidential election and found a range of barriers to
	voting, including improper enforcement of voter ID laws,
	dissemination of incorrect or deceptive information, failure to
	provide information, and voter intimidation; the organization
	concluded that without an enforceable Section 5, approximately 24
	percent of the nonwhite voting-age population is more vulnerable to
	discriminatory election practices; and
	WHEREAS, For more than a half century, the Voting Rights Act
	has been a vital means of quelling discrimination in the form of
	inequitable redistricting plans, onerous voter ID laws, artificial
	barriers to voting, elimination of early voting opportunities, and
	unfair polling place changes; without a functioning Section 5,
	however, expensive litigation is required to fight unjust voting
	laws, and while legal proceedings drag on, countless voters are
	denied the right to cast ballots; the Supreme Court left it to
	Congress to modernize the formula to determine which states and
	jurisdictions are to be covered by Section 5, and new legislation is
	urgently needed to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act;
	and
	WHEREAS, The United States was founded on the principle that
	we are all created equal, and as the world's leading democracy, we
	must set the standard for free, fair, and accessible elections in
	which every vote is counted; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas
	hereby urge the United States Congress to restore and strengthen
	the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.