Honor MLK with federal voting rights protections | Opinion
FILE - In this Aug. 28, 1963, black-and-white file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addresses marchers during his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. President Barack Obama's presence at the ceremony, Wednesday, Aug.
Voting rights were central to King’s life mission and are equally central to today’s civil rights battles. In the name of election security, numerous states, including Texas, have passed legislation that makes it more difficult to vote, some of which civil rights advocates say roll back protections and erect discriminatory hurdles for voters of color.Congress to pass a new Voting Rights Act
. A viable federal enforcement mechanism hasn’t existed in the act since 2013 when the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in Shelby County vs. Holder, struck down a requirement that jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting obtain prior approval from the federal government before making changes to voting rules.
The high court intended Congress to update the law to reflect current conditions. However, various measures, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 named after the late congressman and civil rights leader, have stalled in Congress. That Congress remains polarized and paralyzed on this simple task is an indictment of modern politics. In bipartisan fashion, Congress reauthorized and extended the act under Richard Nixon in 1970, Gerald Ford in 1975, Ronald Reagan in 1982 and George W. Bush in 2006. The high court’s ruling in 2013 and congressional inaction have opened the door to political power games between Republicans
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