Hearing to be held tomorrow at ASU in Tempe, Arizona, by the National Commission on Voting Rights (NCVR), organized by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, to collect testimony about voting discrimination and election administration challenges and successes. The hearing is one of many hearings being held nationwide.
In June 2013, the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder effectively nullified Section 5, a key provision of the Voting Rights Act by striking down Section 4. Additionally, in recent years numerous states have enacted restrictive voting laws, some continue to grapple with recurring election administration challenges and others have proposed reforms to expand access.
The NCVR is the successor to the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act. In 2005, the Lawyers’ Committee established the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act to assess the record of discrimination in voting since the 1982 re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act. While the 2005 Commission focused on voting discrimination, the reconstituted Commission is also examining electoral administration and reform proposals given the increased interest concerning such matters throughout the country.
The testimony, facts, and data gathered during the hearings as well as state-specific documentary research will be compiled into comprehensive reports and made available to anyone seeking to reform or improve existing voting laws including but not limited to policymakers, advocates, and the voting public.
The goal of the NCVR is to document both what has kept voters from the ballot box as well as efforts to increase access in two reports which will be released in 2014.
More information is available at: http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/projects/voting_rights/page?id=0144