U.S. Representative Kathy Castor (FL14) released the following statement on the passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), H.R. 4, that would restore the protections of the landmark Voting Rights Act:

“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. Many brave men and women marched, bled and died to secure this fundamental right.  Today, the House acted to restore the vital protections of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and improve access to the ballot box,” said Castor.

“In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted voting protections in Shelby County v. Holder and paved the way for states - including Florida - to interfere with the right to vote.  Voter suppression campaigns, voter roll purges and insidious barriers to the voting booth, including elimination of ‘preclearance’ requirements in Florida, swept the country. The Voting Rights Advancement Act passed by the Democratic-led House of Representatives today will help ensure that Floridians and all Americans are not subjected to harmful and unreasonable voting restrictions.”

“The right to register, vote, and be assured that our vote counted equally to all other Americans’ vote, for more than 110 years, been crucial to the national NAACP, the state of Florida, and the people of Hillsborough County,” said Leon W. Russell, Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the NAACP.  “Because of our sad history of racism and discrimination, when it came to who could register and vote in our area, Hillsborough County has, since the mid- 1970’s, been required to obtain “preclearance” before making any changes to the time, place, or manner of casting a vote.  Those who proposed the changes in the voting process had to demonstrate that there would be no racial or ethnic discrimination or disenfranchisement if their proposal were to be implemented.  Congresswoman Castor is to be commended by all of us for her hard work and support of H.R. 4, which restores and strengthens the vitality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing every Floridian and every American to have their voices heard in our great democracy.”

“Hillsborough County met the requirements of the Voting Rights Act before it was challenged, and we continue to go to great lengths to make voting in Hillsborough County accessible to everyone. I see this as a way to not only ensure the fairness of the voting process, but to increase confidence that we’re doing the right thing,” said Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.

Since the Shelby County decision, at least 23 states have enacted newly restrictive statewide voting laws, which have been shown to have a disproportionate impact on communities of color and language-minority communities. The VRAA establishes “practice-based preclearance” to focus administrative or judicial review narrowly on suspect practices that are most likely to be tainted by discriminatory intent or to have discriminatory effects, as demonstrated by historical record. The bill expands preclearance practices including: changes that reduce the days or hours of in-person voting on Sundays during early voting periods and new procedures for voter purges where a jurisdiction includes racial or language minority populations above a certain percent threshold.

“Under Governor Rick Scott, Florida saw unprecedented attacks on both voting rights and even routine election procedures,” Castor continued. “Scott blocked requests to use university campuses as voting sites, cut the number of early-voting days and halted the use of remote sites for voters to submit mail ballots. Scott even went so far as to refuse to extend the voter registration deadline, after ordering evacuations due to a hurricane. With passage of the VRAA, my neighbors can look forward to reestablishing protections we have missed during this lapse of the Voting Rights Act.”

H.R. 4 is supported by more than 60 national organizations, including the NAACP, League of Women Voters of the United States, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Native American Rights Fund, AAUW, ACLU, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, American Federation of Teachers, SEIU, UAW, Sierra Club, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.