BILL NUMBER: SJR 14	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 22, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Yee and Wright
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Holden)

                        JULY 10, 2013

   Relative to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 14, 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.



   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.