85R19356 BPG-D     By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 119       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; in July 2016, the   Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down North Carolina's new   voting rules, noting that they targeted African Americans with   "surgical precision"; 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 squelching 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 that would 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 85th 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.