The voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 is a proposed law and an amendment to the historical Voting Rights Act of 1965 that bans racism and discrimination in voting in the United States (Lewis and Andrew 25). The proposed law is aimed at restoring and strengthening sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that were nullified through two Supreme Court decisions in 2013. Specifically, the proposed legislation would restore a section that requires certain States with a history of voter discrimination to obtain approval from the Justice Department prior to effecting changes to their voting laws. If the States with a preclearance system could not demonstrate that the new rules would not be discriminative, then the Justice Department could disapprove them. The proposed law was recently introduced in the 117th congress and named after the popular Georgia-based representative and voting rights activist, John Lewis. The proposed law would protect minority voters from all kinds of discrimination in voting.
Since the preclearance system was struck out, the restrictive new laws effected by certain States have negatively impacted the voters of color by suppressing their voting rights. Passing the bill will not only protect the right to vote for all Americans but also expand and strengthen the voting rights of people of color. Guaranteeing the right to vote for All Americans regardless of color is absolutely necessary given that State Republican State legislators across the US continue to create new barriers to voting (Lewis and Andrew 37). Passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 will not only protect the voting rights of minority but also make elections in the United States fair, safe, and accessible for all voters. Simply put, John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 2021 will combat efforts that could suppress voting rights by putting in place checks and balances.
“The Big money behind the big lie” article by Jane Mayer, a New Yorker writer, suggests that the audit in Arizona is a fruitless undertaking with potentially negative impacts on the American democracy (Mayer 3). According to Meyer, several months since President Biden was sworn in, officials in Arizona continue to search for evidence that President Biden’s victory was flawed with massive voter fraud. She notes that the audit is being funded by complicated national movements comprising wealthy conservatives. The big lie, according to Meyer, is that Trump won the elections. The wealthy movements of extremists are doubling the effort and money they are putting in to try and push the idea of voter fraud with the aim of challenging future elections. Dark money is being used to challenge elections and suppress the significance of the popular vote.
According to Meyer, restrictive legislation that suppress voting rights have been enacted in 18 States in different ways. She notes that there is an intended effort to limit voting and make registration of new voters extremely difficult (Mayer 4). The intention of legislators in certain states is to have the right to overrule the popular vote if they can successfully argue there were claims of voter fraud in an election. Historically, States have used the popular vote in determining the elected electors, who then then pick the president by casting their ballot. However, the idea being pushed by the well-funded sophisticated movements of extremists is that State legislators can pick the electors (Mayer 6). Meyer’s article shows the extent to which certain States can go to defy democracy. She calls on Billionaires to stop suppressing the voting rights of Americans by attempting to buy elections.
Works Cited
Lewis, John, and Andrew Aydin. March: Book Three. Vol. 3. Top Shelf Productions, 2016.
Mayer, Jane. The big money behind the big lie: Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win at all costs. Anchor, August 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/the-big-money-behind-the-big-lie
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