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Lawmakers Unveil Proposal Broadening Voting Rights Act

(YES!!!)

WASHINGTON -- House and Senate lawmakers unveiled bipartisan legislation on Thursday that would repair -- and broaden -- a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act struck down last year by the Supreme Court.

The bill would expand the power of federal courts to stop discriminatory voting changes before they are implemented by lowering the bar for plaintiffs seeking a preliminary injunction of a law in any federal court in the country. It would also update the formula that determines which parts of the country require pre-clearance for voting changes to include places with recent voting rights violations, and create "uniform transparency requirements" to keep communities informed about voting changes.

Lawmakers are trying to restore Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which focused on the regions of the country with a history of racial discrimination at the polls. For decades, certain states and municipalities received special scrutiny from the Justice Department to ensure that voting rights were protected. But the Supreme Court halted that oversight last summer when it ruled that it was time to update the formula. MORE...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/16/voting-rights-act-2014_n_4611113.html