LEAN ELECTIONS Dd December 5, 2019 Dear Representatives, Clean Elections Texas respectfully requests your YES vote for H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, scheduled to be considered by the House on Friday, December 6, 2019. As you know, this bill would reinstate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1985 (VRA) and restore voting protections stripped away in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court ruling. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was historic! This civil rights legislation was needed to prevent the acts of racial discrimination and voter suppression that were taking place in various states in our country — our state, Texas, was one of those states. Then the Voting Rights Act was seriously damaged in 2013 by the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. According to the Brennan Center in “The Effects of Shelby County v. Holder’, Texas was the first state to bring back voter suppression. ‘Within hours of the Shelby County decision, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement, “With today's decision, the State's voter ID law will take effect immediately. Redistricting maps passed by the Legislature may also take effect without approval from the federal government.” Since then, 22 other states have implemented restrictive and discriminatory voting practices without consequence. There have been strategic poll closures, voter roll purges, restrictions on early voting, and overly-stringent voter ID requirements, The Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4) will help to heal the damage done by the destructive Shelby decision by modemizing the Voting Rights Act and by restoring necessary protections so that every citizen can participate in our democracy. The right to vote is at the core of our constitutional system of government. It ensures that the ‘American people have the power to decide who will represent them and who will govern them at the national, state and local levels. Every citizen must be able to participate in our elections with an equal voice. We strongly urge you to. vote YES on the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 to ensure that all have access to vote, and all can contribute to a free and fair democratic system, Respectfully, PO Box 603042 Dattas, TX 75360 CLEANELECTIONSTX.ORG _INFO@CLEANELECTIONSTX.ORG