ATLANTA — Members of Fair Fight Action’s Disability Council, comprised of disabled activists and policy experts from around the country, are calling on Congress to immediately pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (HR4), legislation that would restore, update and strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) to prevent states and localities across the country from enacting discriminatory voting rules.
U.S. Representative Terri Sewell (D-Alabama) introduced the groundbreaking voting rights legislation on Tuesday in Selma, Alabama in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Disabled voters in this country already face disproportionate barriers to accessing the ballot box. With the onslaught of over 400 anti-voter bills introduced in 49 states this year, disabled voters could face further restrictions that will make it even more difficult for them to cast their ballots. It is imperative that Congress pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which will protect disabled voters by:
- Restoring and updating the VRA’s geographic preclearance formula for places with recent, robust histories of voting discrimination, so that they have to get proposed changes to voting rules federally reviewed before they can be implemented to ensure they don’t impermissibly discriminate
- Establishing new practice-based preclearance, which requires all states and localities to submit for federal preclearance certain kinds of voting changes that are known to be likely to discriminate, such as
- Changes to documentation and identification requirements for registering and voting. This provides a tool to block restrictive photo ID provisions proposed in some recent state bills–provisions that would put an undue burden on disabled voters who may not have a driver’s license or access to transportation to obtain one.
- Voting location changes or closures, including for early, absentee, and election-day voting, and changes that reduce opportunities to vote on Sundays. Limiting where people can vote and the amount of time they have to vote adversely affects disabled voters who may not be able to travel long distances on their own and who might need the time to find someone to assist them.
- Mandating public notice and transparency requirements for state and local changes to voting rules and polling places, and specifically requiring that these public notices must be made in a reasonably convenient and accessible format for voters with disabilities.
“With the onslaught of anti-voter restrictions enacted since Shelby County and in 2021 alone, and after hearing from voters who have experienced and observed voter suppression firsthand, including disabled voters who had difficulty casting their ballots privately and independently, we believe it is more imperative than ever that Congress pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act now,” said Fair Fight Action’s Dom Kelly, who is disabled and leads the Disability Council. “Passing this historic legislation would help prevent many of the kinds of discriminatory voting changes we have already seen this year. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will help ensure that disabled voters, particularly disabled voters of color, are better protected from attacks on their freedom to vote.”
Fair Fight Action’s Disability Council supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and urges Congress to act quickly to protect the right to vote for all eligible citizens.
Fair Fight Action, through its Hot Call Summer campaign, is urging voters to call their Congressional Representative and demand that they support HR4.
Fair Fight Action’s Disability Council includes:
Dom Kelly
Fair Fight Action
U.S. Representative Tony Coelho (D-CA)
Member of Congress, 1979-1989
Primary Sponsor of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Mia Ives-Rublee
Disability Rights Advocate
Matthew Cortland
Senior Fellow, Data For Progress
Claudia Gordon
Andraéa LaVant
Disability Activist & Founder of LCI, Inc.
Gaylon Tootle
Emily Ladau
Ted Jackson
Accessibility Advocate and Democratic Operative
Jules Good
Dessa Cosma
Tiffany Yu
Zan Thornton
Vilissa Thompson, LMSW
Founder/CEO of Ramp Your Voice!
Patrick Cokley
Lead On Network
Emily Blum
Tory Cross
Amy Cohen Efron
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