Rep. Veasey Marks 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
Congressman Veasey calls on Congress to pass updated voting rights protections
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, released the following statement marking the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
"Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed landmark legislation to protect every American citizen's right to vote. Thousands fought and died to ensure that African Americans, Hispanics and other minority populations would finally have equal access to the ballot box, a right that they were unjustly denied for over a century. The Voting Rights Act declared once and for all that discriminatory tactics like poll taxes and arbitrary literacy tests were prohibitive to minority voter participation.
Over two years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States turned back the clock and ruled that the Voting Rights Act's own success made it unnecessary. By striking down Section 4 of the VRA, the court created a host of new opportunities for states to discriminate once more against the same populations that only fifty years earlier were blatantly denied access to the polls. Just hours following the Supreme Court ruling, states across the country, including my home state of Texas, immediately began enforcing laws that courts had previously found discriminatory. In 2011, the Texas Legislature passed one of the country's most biased voter photo ID requirements, but its implementation was stalled awaiting further review under the pre-clearance requirement of Section 4 of the VRA. Following the 2013 Supreme Court ruling that found Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, the photo ID law went into effect, leaving Texas citizens vulnerable without this crucial element of the Voting Rights Act to protect against these types of discriminatory tactics.
As the lead plaintiff in Veasey v.Abbott, I challenged the state of Texas asserting that the new voter photo ID requirements were discriminatory at the expense of minority participation. Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the lower court's decision that the TX Voter ID law has a discriminatory effect on minority voters and violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In Congress, House Democrats continuously push our House Republican colleagues to pass updated voting rights protection legislation as defending the sacred right to vote has always been a bipartisan issue. Now it's time for Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton to end the hostility against Texas voters.
I will continue to fight to safeguard the right to the ballot box. The Supreme Court has called on Congress to update the Voting Rights Act and the time to restore the American people's faith in our democratic system is now."