Full Text of HJR0105 98th General Assembly
HJ0105 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is an important | 3 | | piece of legislation that emerged
from the Civil Rights | 4 | | Movement and was developed to ensure the fundamental right of | 5 | | all
citizens to vote; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act was reauthorized by Congress | 7 | | in 2006 by an overwhelmingly
bipartisan effort; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, On June 25, 2013, in Shelby County, Alabama v. | 9 | | Holder , the United States Supreme
Court eliminated a key | 10 | | provision of the Voting Rights Act which provided a screening
| 11 | | mechanism for changes in voting procedures in certain states | 12 | | and jurisdictions with a history of
voter discrimination; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County has | 14 | | allowed states and jurisdictions
to pursue and justify a range | 15 | | of changes to voting procedures which would infringe upon the | 16 | | right to
vote and negatively and disproportionately impact | 17 | | minority voters; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, These voting changes include enhanced and | 19 | | aggressive voter identification laws,
limitations on early | 20 | | voting, and statewide voter purges; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, On Januray 16, 2014, United States Senators | 2 | | Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Richard Durbin
(D-IL), and Chris Coons | 3 | | (D-DE) introduced The Voting Rights Amendment Act, S.
1945, | 4 | | that would strengthen the foundation of the original Voting | 5 | | Rights Act and combat current
and future discrimination; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Amendment Act represents a | 7 | | bipartisan response to the Supreme
Court's invitation in Shelby | 8 | | County to update the Voting Rights Act and address the
| 9 | | demonstrated need for protections to the right to vote; | 10 | | therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 13 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge Congress to pass S. | 14 | | 1945, the Voting Rights Amendment Act; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 16 | | delivered to the Majority and Minority
Leaders of the United | 17 | | States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United | 18 | | States House
of Representatives, and the members of the | 19 | | Illinois congressional delegation.
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