Dems propose redistricting limits in response to Voting Rights Act ruling

In that decision, the Court ruled that section 4 of the Voting Rights Act needs to be updated before it can be used as a basis for deciding which states and districts need to get approval from the federal government before changing their voting laws. Several Democrats have blasted the decision as one that makes the Voting Rights Act inoperable until Congress agrees to new criteria for deciding which sections of the country need to clear voting decisions with the government.

{mosads}Green’s bill attempts to prevent any state from making redistricting decisions beyond the decennial census without permission from the federal government. According to a description of the bill, it would require states with new redistricting plans prior to a new census to “obtain a declaratory judgment or pre clearance in the manner provided under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

That section allows preclearance through an Executive Branch process or a judicial panel under the U.S. district court in Washington, DC.

Back in June, Green said the Court “rightly recognized the positive progress made on voting rights,” but said that was due to the formula in section 4 of the law. That section locked in requirements that Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia must preclear voting law changes with the government, along with several districts in other states.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in crafting new legislation that targets injurious inequality and deleterious discrimination in not only election laws but all laws,” Green said in June.

Green’s bill is co-sponsored by Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), Mike Honda (D-Calif.), and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.).

Their bill is similar to one introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who proposed a bill prohibiting states from redistricting except in response to the decennial census.