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Opinion

Voting rights deserve an honest Congressional debate and federal protections

The nation needs clear federal enforcement protections of voting rights

Eight years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in Shelby County vs. Holder, struck down an outdated enforcement provision of the Voting Rights Act.

But so far, Congress hasn’t updated the enforcement formula as the high court had suggested, letting proposed voting rights legislation languish through several congressional sessions. Then earlier this week, Senate Republicans blocked action on a new voting rights law for the third time this year.

Let the record show that this editorial board opposed some provisions of the original For the People Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that passed the House but failed when Senate Republicans blocked it in June.

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But the Freedom to Vote Act — the measure Republicans rejected this week — wasn’t that bill. The new bill was a compromise hammered out by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin in an effort to garner the support of at least 10 Republican senators. When push came to shove, bipartisanship never had a chance. All 50 Senate Democrats and independents supported bringing the Freedom to Vote Act to the floor, and all 50 Senate Republicans voted against it.

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On something as important as voting rights, the GOP’s refusal to debate the matter is unacceptable. While the original For the People Act required states to use nonpartisan commissions to draw congressional district lines to prevent gerrymandering, the revised bill dropped that requirement. But, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, the legislation would still limit extreme partisan gerrymandering, a reform that Republicans including former President George H.W. Bush and Sen. Mitch McConnell once supported in the late 1980s. However that is worked out in the end, reforms around gerrymandering are popular for a reason and need to be debated.

Other portions of the new measure would create protections and protocols for the handing of election equipment and records. The proposal also punted a controversial proposal for a national voter identification mandate, replacing it with a national standard that would give the states flexibility in the documents that voters could present as proof of identification.

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Some provisions of the bill raise federalism questions, among other issues, that would have to be addressed. But our belief is that voting is an essential right of the people, and serious reform deserves serious and open debate in the world’s most deliberative body, the U.S. Senate. Voters need to hear concerns and see their lawmakers hammer out compromises that move us forward.

What’s clear is that’s not happening in Congress today. Setting aside For the People Act, the Senate is also failing to take up the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which this newspaper supports. The measure would update enforcement formulas, standards for preclearance and procedures for states and other jurisdictions to show why they should not be subject to preclearance.

Lawmakers regularly renewed the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, with bipartisan support. In 2006, a Republican-controlled Congress renewed the Voting Rights Act a year before it was to expire, extended it for 25 years and President George W. Bush signed it into law.

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That’s the spirit we want to see in Washington. Voting rights are more than a minority issue. They are an American promise that must be fulfilled.

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