Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cosponsored the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). This legislation would restore and modernize Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and provide the federal government with other critical tools to combat what has become a full-fledged assault on Americans’ right to vote.
“Over the years, we’ve seen the critical protections so many Americans fought for as part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gutted. Congress cannot allow decades of progress to be rolled back in an effort to systematically disenfranchise and marginalize people of color, people with disabilities and senior citizens. I’m proud to join my colleagues in support of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would protect voting rights by restoring weakened protections and strengthening this landmark civil rights legislation.”
Introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 is cosponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) introduced its companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
The legislation is also supported by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Brennan Center For Justice, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Human Rights Campaign.
Full text of the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 can be found here.