Abrams urges Congress to update federal voting rights protections

WASHINGTON — Stacey Abrams urged members of Congress to bolster federal voting protections on Tuesday, six years to the day after the U.S. Supreme Court nullified key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act for being outdated.

The Democratic runner-up for governor said the court’s 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder opened the door for states such as Georgia to institute a plethora of policies that have made it harder for people, especially African Americans and Latinos, to vote.

“The Shelby decision created a new channel for the troubling practice of voter suppression during a time of dramatic demographic change,” Abrams told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee.

Georgia and other states that were once required to run proposed voting changes by the U.S. Justice Department have since “raced to reinstate or create new hurdles to voter registration, ballot access and ballot counting,” she added.

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/abrams-urges-congress-update-federal-voting-rights-protections/pvjZgFMerJlN28VvnR9xXO/
(Atlanta Journal Constitution)