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REQUEST FOR <br />COUNCIL ACTION <br />CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: <br />APRIL 7, 2015 <br />TITLE: <br />RESOLUTION CALLING ON CONGRESS TO <br />UPDATE SECTION 4 OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT <br />{STRATEGIC PLAN NO. 5, 1 E} <br />CITY MANAqSR <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: <br />APPROVED <br />❑ As Recommended <br />❑ <br />As Amended <br />❑ <br />Ordinance on 1 51 Reading <br />❑ <br />Ordinance on 2 1a Reading <br />❑ <br />Implementing Resolution <br />❑ <br />Set Public Hearing For_ <br />CONTINUED TO <br />FILE NUMBER <br />Adopt a resolution calling on Congress to update Section 4 of the Civil Rights Act to enable the <br />Department of Justice to review changes in voting laws that threaten the ability of citizens to cast a <br />ballot for candidates of their choice. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials ( NALEO) Educational Fund is <br />calling on Congress to pass a bill to restore the strength of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). <br />The Voting Rights Act (VRA) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August, 6, <br />1965. The purpose of the VRA was to counter states' efforts to disenfranchise select groups of <br />voters and to prohibit racial discrimination in voting. Since the initial passage of the Voting Rights <br />Act in 1965, Congress has acted five times to expand the protections afforded by its provisions. <br />The VRA was significantly weakened in 2013 when the Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County v. <br />Holder that one of its central provisions (a process called "preclearance ") could no longer be <br />enforced. <br />Nearly seven million Latinos eligible to vote residing in jurisdictions that were previously subject to <br />preclearance pre - Shelby County have lost proactive protections under the VRA. A NALEO <br />Educational Fund report released in 2014 found that legislation similar to the recently introduced <br />Voting Rights Amendment Act (HR 885) would restore protections to more than 4.5 million, or <br />nearly two - thirds, of those Latinos residing in jurisdictions that were previously subject to <br />preclearance. Without the Voting Rights Act in effect, millions of Americans may face <br />discrimination on the basis of race or socioeconomic status. <br />55A -1 <br />