After Supreme Court Ruling, Cummings Calls on Speaker Boehner For New Legislation to Protect Voters from Discrimination

Jun 25, 2013
Press Release

Washington, DC—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shelby County v. Holder that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is unconstitutional:
 

“Today the Supreme Court rolled back one of the most effective safeguards to Americans’ fundamental right to vote.  This decision significantly slows the march of progress we’ve made since the Voting Rights Act was first enacted in 1965.

 “There is still persistent voter discrimination that must be addressed, from longer voting lines for minorities to the racially motivated efforts to suppress the vote we saw in the 2012 presidential election.  

 “The ball is now in Congress’s court.  The Senate Judiciary Committee is already taking action to restore protections for minority voters, and I call on Speaker Boehner to exercise true leadership in the House.

“This is our watch, and we must guard our rights—for ourselves and generations yet unborn.  We must act swiftly and decisively, in a bipartisan manner as we did in 2006, to create a new formula to ensure that the Voting Rights Act remains a powerful tool to protect voters from discrimination.”

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113th Congress