Senate Joint Resolution No. 14

Introduced by Senators Yee and Wright

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Holden)

July 10, 2013

Senate Joint Resolution No. 14—Relative to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 14, as introduced, Yee. Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This measure would urge the Congress and President of the United States to enact amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that would restore Section 4 of the act with a new coverage formula and update the entire act in order to address ongoing violations of voting rights in the states.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution ensures that the right of citizens of the United States
to vote is not denied on account of race or color; and

WHEREAS, The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution grants the Congress of the United States the authority
to protect the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States has exercised
its authority to protect the right to vote by passing landmark
legislation of the civil rights era known as the Voting Rights Act
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1971 et seq.); and

WHEREAS, Sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
have contributed to the immense progress in protecting and
expanding the right to vote over the past few decades by ensuring
that state and local election practices are just and fair; and

WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States, in Shelby
County v. Holder, held that the coverage formula in Section 4 of
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is unconstitutional in violation of
the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and can
no longer be used as a basis for requiring jurisdictions to subject
proposed changes in voting procedures to federal preclearance
under Section 5 of the act; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the Congress and
President of the United States to enact amendments to the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 that would restore Section 4 with a new
coverage formula and update the entire act in order to address
ongoing violations of voting rights in the states; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.