Calls for voting reform continue.1 In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s gutting of the pre-clearance provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in Shelby County v. Holder,2 a bipartisan group of legislators recently introduced in Congress a bill intended to respond to the court’s constitutional critique.3 Several days later, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, appointed by President Barack Obama after the 2012 election to address long lines and other voting obstacles, released a set of recommendations to improve our nation’s voting experience.4
Important for the whole nation, the Voting Rights Bill and the commission report are significant for New York voters in particular. Pre-clearance requirements under the VRA, while originally capturing only southern states that discriminated against African-American voters, expanded over the years to include nine states and more than 50 counties or towns to protect a variety of ethnic and language minorities throughout the United States, including Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.
