Rep. John Lewis Argues in Support of Voting Rights Act

 At issue is the constitutionality of Section 5, the heart of the act, which requires that jurisdictions with a proven history of voting discrimination have all voting changes cleared before they take effect by the U.S. Justice Department or a three-judge panel.  If decided negatively, the federal intervention that has protected so many citizens would be gone.  Three other cases will also be heard by the court which would affect the government’s ability to intervene in certain areas of discrimination in mortgage lending, employment and education.

            “The record of present day voting rights violations, “said Rep. John Lewis, “ that Congress amassed during the reauthorization period makes it very clear.  People are still struggling in America today.  American citizens are still struggling today for free and fair access to the ballot box.  Right here in Georgia we had our own problems, not just  in 1968, but in 2008.  Citizens and the federal government raised questions about voting procedures in Georgia.  Without Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, there would have been no legal means to insure some measure of justice for the voters in Georgia.  This constitutional challenge is very important.  It strikes at the very heart of the progress we have made in this country since Bloody Sunday and the death of Martin Luther King Jr.”

                Because of his central involvement in the modern-day voting rights struggle in America, Rep. John Lewis will attend the Supreme Court arguments on Wednesday, and he has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the court in support of the appellees in the case.  Proponents of the abolition of Section 5, like Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, often like to misrepresent the words of Rep. Lewis to support their arguments, as Perdue did in his brief sustaining the eradication of Section 5.  The Lewis brief responds to some of these erroneous claims in concert with the entire spectrum of arguments that will be presented in the Supreme Court case. 

                “Some people want to argue that because we have elected the first African American president,” said Lewis, “we no longer need to protect ourselves from voter discrimination.  That is like saying once you have built a path that gets you halfway to your destination, you don’t need that road any more.  As long as there is evidence of voting discrimination in states which have historically and systematically denied citizens of the right to vote, as there is in Georgia, there will be a persistent and continuous need for voting rights protection.  Section 5 was necessary in 1965, and it is still necessary today.”

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Brenda Jones
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