voterprotectioneFFortscontinueaFter2022election
Diversity , equity & Inclusion Committee Chairs : AlexisDionDeveaux — Gunster & AntinaMobley – PublicDefender ’ sOffice , 13thCircuit
As we pivot from another election season , it ’ s a good time to reflect on the state of voter participation in Florida and the nation . One way to ensure an enduring democratic process is to make voting easy , safe , and accessible to all eligible voters . Congress made such an effort in passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( VRA ) in response to efforts by many southern states to make it difficult , if not impossible , for Black citizens to exercise their right to vote , granted 95 years earlier by the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . 1 Persuaded largely by the efforts of civil rights activists and the extreme
violence they met in response to peaceful demonstrations , Congress passed the VRA , and President Lyndon B . Johnson signed it into law in August 1965 . 2
The VRA had immediate impact , with 250,000 new Black voters registered by the end of 1965 . 3 Section 5 of the VRA required covered jurisdictions , including Hillsborough County , 4 to obtain preclearance for new voting practices to ensure they were not discriminatory . The U . S . Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality
onewaytoensurean enduringdemocratic processistomake votingeasy , safe , andaccessibleto alleligiblevoters .
of Section 5 in 1965 and 1969 , 5 and the VRA was readopted in 1970 , 1975 , and 1982 . 6
In 2013 , the U . S . Supreme Court held the coverage formula used to determine the jurisdictions subject to Section 5 ’ s preclearance requirement was unconstitutional , essentially preventing its application . 7 Like the passage of the VRA , the impact of the Court ’ s ruling was immediate . States responded by purging voter rolls , implementing
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