The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 24, 2021, no thanks to Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ).
This is surprising since a similar bill received strong bipartisan support in 2006. Representative Smith voted in support of this bill at that time, as did 32 other House Republicans.
President George W. Bush signed the bill into law. Then a conservative Supreme Court gutted the portion of the bill in 2013 requiring states to “preclear” state voting laws with the federal Department of Justice.
The John R. Lewis bill would ease the way to challenge Republican-controlled legislatures’ attempts to restrict voting in response to baseless claims of voting irregularities.
Representative Smith apparently is not concerned with minority rights to vote being restricted. When some of us are not allowed to vote, democracy is in peril.
Margaret Beekman
Freehold Township
