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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is an important
3piece of legislation that emerged from the Civil Rights
4Movement and was developed to ensure the fundamental right of
5all citizens to vote; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act was reauthorized by Congress
7in 2006 by an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort; and
 
8    WHEREAS, On June 25, 2013, in Shelby County, Alabama v.
9Holder, the United States Supreme Court eliminated a key
10provision of the Voting Rights Act which provided a screening
11mechanism for changes in voting procedures in certain states
12and jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County has
14allowed states and jurisdictions to pursue and justify a range
15of changes to voting procedures which would infringe upon the
16right to vote and negatively and disproportionately impact
17minority voters; and
 
18    WHEREAS, These voting changes include enhanced and
19aggressive voter identification laws, limitations on early
20voting, and statewide voter purges; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, On Januray 16, 2014, United States Senators
2Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Chris Coons
3(D-DE) introduced The Voting Rights Amendment Act, S. 1945,
4that would strengthen the foundation of the original Voting
5Rights Act and combat current and future discrimination; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Amendment Act represents a
7bipartisan response to the Supreme Court's invitation in Shelby
8County to update the Voting Rights Act and address the
9demonstrated need for protections to the right to vote;
10therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
13SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge Congress to pass S.
141945, the Voting Rights Amendment Act; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16delivered to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United
17States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United
18States House of Representatives, and the members of the
19Illinois congressional delegation.