RollCall

Even before the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity raised alarms with its sweeping requests for state voter data, House Democrats rolled out legislation they hope will ensure the voting process is fair.

One measure, introduced at a news conference on Capitol Hill on June 22, would restore voter protections across 13 mostly Southern states. Sponsored by Alabama’s Terri A. Sewell and Georgia’s John Lewis, a civil rights icon, the measure is a response to the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision. That ruling struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required those states to seek federal approval before changing voter laws and also set a formula for determining which states would be subject to the law. 

“We’ve got to ensure that people understand that every American deserves the right to vote. Certain barriers make that impossible, like, if you don’t drive because you’re elderly and disabled. But this is unfair,” Sewell said. The states affected are Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Arizona, California, New York and Virginia.

Another measure, introduced by Virginia Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., aims to end gerrymandering of House districts by using ranked-choice voting — where voters get to rank candidates rather than just pick one — and creating districts where more than one member represents a diverse group of constituents.

The bill seeks to establish a more diverse, balanced and fair representation in Congress — “an appeal to the low tolerance Americans have for the current ‘winner-takes-all’ approach,” a Beyer spokesperson said.

While the Virginia Democrat’s proposal would mean radical changes across the U.S. voting and congressional representation system, he said changing the system is the only way to “revitalize” the political process.

“We would have more moderate Democrats from districts leaning Republican, and vice versa, creating a type of politician — now nearly extinct — known as a ‘bridge builder,’” Beyer wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post last week. “Many members would share constituents with members of the other party, creating incentives to work together on legislation affecting the district.”

Neither bill has garnered any Republican backing, though the Sewell-Lewis bill is co-sponsored by 185 House Democrats.

The two measures have disparate aims: one to expand voting rights, the other to expand the system itself. Both, however, frame a Democratic legislative response to the White House commission’s purpose to investigate voter fraud. [MORE]