Local lawmakers and activists are responding to the Supreme Court’s decision a year ago overturning article four of the 1964 Voting Rights Act. That article mandated that nine states that have a history of voting discrimination must notify the federal government before they make any changes to their voting rules—that didn’t include Ohio. The protection has been used to keep particularly southern states from passing restrictive voting laws.
Local NAACP President Derrick Foward and Congressman Mike Turner (R-10) are pushing a new proposal, the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014. Turner is a co-sponsor of the bill.
Turner’s office says this replacement legislation calls for a new formula that would ensure the voting rights of all citizens. It would establish a trigger for federal involvement with any state that has a record of voting rights violations.
