Voting Rights Act's 60th anniversary comes amid uncertainty
The big picture: A backlash to the 2020 racial reckoning has made it almost impossible for any bipartisan effort to renew the Voting Rights Act — even though the country is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever.
The big picture: President Trump continues to push baseless claims about voter fraud while pressuring states like Texas to redraw congressional district boundaries with little consideration to historic racial discrimination.
In March, Trump signed an executive order to tighten voting restrictions — including calls for proof of citizenship to vote.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE), a Republican-led bill that would codify those requirements into law, passed the House in April but stalled in the Senate.
Meanwhile, GOP-leaning states also have passed bills in recent years that critics argue impose new restrictions on Black and Indigenous voters.
The latest: Earlier this week, Sen. Raphael Warnock reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, backed by Senate leaders and civil rights groups.
The bill would restore federal oversight of voting changes in states with histories of discrimination — and ban voter roll purges for missed elections.
Multiple groups promoted its introduction to Congress, but it's unlikely to pass either of the GOP-controlled chambers.
What they're saying:"We're going to continue to fight for that bill, even though it's an uphill climb — particularly because of the Senate filibuster," National Urban League president Marc Morial told Axios.
Morial says every Republican president since its passage has signed every extension, but now it's a partisan issue fueled by far-right movements.
"This is a modern-day power grab."
The other side: Some Republicans contend that the voting changes are "common sense" reforms to require ID and prevent noncitizens from voting — which is exceptionally rare and illegal.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Axios earlier this year that voting rights groups' concerns about such changes were "absurd armchair speculation."
Yes, but: Older Black Americans, especially in the South, are being disproportionately targeted by new documentation requirements, Color Of Change PAC national director Jamarr Brown told Axios.
That's because rural, poor areas like the "Black Belt" of Alabama and Mississippi lack the infrastructure to get voters the required documents in a timely and easy fashion.
Arizona and Montana have passed new laws barring ballot collection important to Native American voters living in isolated regions, since they lack reliable mail service.
"This isn't about proof of citizenship. This is about eliminating people from the electorate… to get a desired political outcome," Brown said.
Between the lines: Since taking office, Trump has attempted to reverse many of the gains made during the Civil Rights Movement and unravel the late President Lyndon B. Johnson's civil rights legacy from six decades ago.
The clawback on voting rights comes as the Trump administration also pulls back on civil rights enforcement and focuses on " anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday released new guidelines for recipients of federal funding and directed them not to be involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ("DEI") programs.
Flashback: Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965, after the attack on unarmed peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Ala.
Johnson had encouraged the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to march for voting rights to sway the public.
Stunning stat: Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the number of Black Americans elected in the U.S. has shot up from just a few in 1964 to about 9,000.
Most Black Americans are aligned with the Democratic Party, but Black and Latino Republicans have won high-profile races in Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico and California.
The bottom line: Voter suppression efforts now target Latinos, Asian Americans, and young voters, alongside Black communities.
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