Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR51 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R9958 TBO-D
2	2	By: Reynolds H.C.R. No. 51
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5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, Since the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated the Voting
7	7	Rights Act of 1965 with its decision in Shelby County v. Holder,
8	8	many citizens have confronted new barriers to participation in our
9	9	democracy; and
10	10	WHEREAS, During the Civil Rights Era, the United States
11	11	Congress passed the Voting Rights Act to prevent government at all
12	12	levels from enacting laws or policies that deny American citizens
13	13	the right to vote based on race or ethnicity; one of the key
14	14	provisions, Section 5, requires jurisdictions with a history of
15	15	discrimination to obtain prior federal approval of changes to
16	16	voting rules that could affect minorities; for nearly five decades,
17	17	this provision, known as preclearance, served as a bulwark against
18	18	disenfranchisement, blocking discrimination before it occurred;
19	19	and
20	20	WHEREAS, On June 25, 2013, in its Shelby County decision, a
21	21	sharply divided Supreme Court rendered Section 5 inoperable by
22	22	invalidating as antiquated Section 4(b), the formula used to
23	23	determine the states and localities covered by preclearance; absent
24	24	congressional resolve to update the formula, lawmakers in many
25	25	states and districts seized the opportunity to revive voting
26	26	changes that had been blocked, to move forward with changes
27	27	previously deterred, and to implement new discriminatory
28	28	restrictions; such measures included draconian voter ID laws, the
29	29	elimination of early voting opportunities, and the closing or
30	30	moving of hundreds and likely thousands of polling sites; all of
31	31	these actions, which disproportionately affected minorities,
32	32	low-income communities, people with disabilities, and students,
33	33	would previously have required federal approval under Section 5;
34	34	and
35	35	WHEREAS, Court rulings and studies alike have shown that in
36	36	the wake of Shelby County, discrimination is widespread; the
37	37	nonpartisan Election Protection coalition undertook a
38	38	comprehensive review of the 2016 presidential election and found a
39	39	range of barriers to voting, including improper enforcement of
40	40	voter ID laws, dissemination of incorrect or deceptive information,
41	41	failure to provide information, and voter intimidation; the
42	42	organization concluded that without an enforceable Section 5,
43	43	approximately 24 percent of the nonwhite voting-age population is
44	44	more vulnerable to discriminatory election practices; and
45	45	WHEREAS, For more than a half century, the Voting Rights Act
46	46	has been a vital means of quelling discrimination in the form of
47	47	inequitable redistricting plans, onerous voter ID laws, artificial
48	48	barriers to voting, elimination of early voting opportunities, and
49	49	unfair polling place changes; without a functioning Section 5,
50	50	however, expensive litigation is required to fight unjust voting
51	51	laws, and while legal proceedings drag on, countless voters are
52	52	denied the right to cast ballots; the Supreme Court left it to
53	53	Congress to modernize the formula to determine which states and
54	54	jurisdictions are to be covered by Section 5, and new legislation is
55	55	urgently needed to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act;
56	56	and
57	57	WHEREAS, The United States was founded on the principle that
58	58	we are all created equal, and as the world's leading democracy, we
59	59	must set the standard for free, fair, and accessible elections in
60	60	which every vote is counted; now, therefore, be it
61	61	RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
62	62	hereby urge the United States Congress to restore and strengthen
63	63	the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and, be it further
64	64	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
65	65	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
66	66	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
67	67	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
68	68	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
69	69	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
70	70	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.