III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 626 

Designating September 2018 as ‘‘National Voting Rights Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. UDALL, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BROWN, Ms. 

WARREN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Mr. CARPER, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

RESOLUTION 

Designating September 2018 as ‘‘National Voting Rights 

Month’’. 

Whereas voting is one of the single most important rights 

that can be exercised in a democracy; 

Whereas over the course of history, various voter suppression 

laws in the United States have hindered, and even prohibited, certain individuals and groups from exercising 

the right to vote; 

Whereas during the 19th and early 20th centuries, Native 

Americans and people who were born to United States 

citizens abroad, people who spoke a language other than 

English, and people who were formerly subjected to slavVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 Sep 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR626.IS SR626

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ery were denied full citizenship and prevented from voting by English literacy tests; 

Whereas from 1954 to 1968, minority groups such as African 

Americans in the South suffered from the oppressive effects of Jim Crow laws designed to prevent political, economic, and social mobility; 

Whereas African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other underrepresented voters were 

subject to violence at polling stations, poll taxes, literacy 

tests, all-White primaries, property ownership tests, 

grandfather clauses, voter roll purges, and laws that prevented former prisoners from voting; 

Whereas Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) to protect the rights of African 

Americans and other traditionally disenfranchised groups 

to vote; 

Whereas in 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated section 4 of 

the Voting Rights Act of 1965, dismantling the 

preclearance formula provision in that Act that protected 

voters in States that historically have suppressed the 

right of minorities to vote; 

Whereas, since the invalidation of the preclearance formula 

provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, gerrymandered districts in many States have gone unchallenged or have become less likely to be invalidated by the 

courts; 

Whereas gerrymandering has a discriminatory impact on traditionally disenfranchised minorities, including by— 

(1) diluting the voting power of minorities across 

many districts (known as ‘‘cracking’’); and 


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(2) concentrating the voting power of minorities in 

1 district to reduce the voting power of minorities in 

other districts (known as ‘‘packing’’); 

Whereas the courts have found that the congressional and, in 

some cases, State legislative district maps, in Texas, 

North Carolina, Florida, and Wisconsin were gerrymandered with the intent of interfering with the constitutional right to vote; 

Whereas the decision of the Supreme Court of the United 

States in Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), 

calls on Congress to fix the formula in the Voting Rights 

Act of 1965; 

Whereas some form of a restrictive voting law has been instituted in 33 States since 2013; 

Whereas restrictive voting laws have resulted in cutbacks in 

early voting, voter roll purges, placement of faulty equipment in minority communities, a requirement of photo 

identification, the procurement of which amounts to a 

modern day poll tax, and the elimination of same-day 

registration; 

Whereas more than 80,000,000 minority, elderly, poor, and 

disabled voters could be disenfranchised by restrictive 

voting laws; 

Whereas in 2016, discriminatory laws in North Carolina, 

Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Texas have been ruled unconstitutional and overturned by the courts; 

Whereas there are local elected officials who refuse to adhere 

to Federal court decisions that have struck down suppressive voting laws instituted since Shelby County v. 

Holder; 


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Whereas there is much more work to be done to ensure all 

citizens of the United States have the right to vote; 

Whereas ‘‘National Voter Registration Day’’ is September 25; 

and 

Whereas the month of September is an appropriate month to 

designate as ‘‘National Voting Rights Month’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the designation of September 2018 

3 as ‘‘National Voting Rights Month’’; 

4 (2) encourages all people in the United States 

5 to uphold the right of every citizen to exercise the 

6 sacred and fundamental right to vote; and 

7 (3) to further the mission of allowing all citi8 zens to vote, supports the following actions: 

9 (A) The development by public schools and 

10 universities of an academic curriculum that 

11 educates students about— 

12 (i) the importance of voting, how to 

13 register to vote, where to vote, and the dif14 ferent forms of voting; 

15 (ii) the history of voter suppression in 

16 the United States before the passage of the 

17 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

18 10301 et seq.); 


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•SRES 626 IS 

1 (iii) current issues relating to laws 

2 passed after 1965 that restrict the right to 

3 vote; and 

4 (iv) the actions taken by State and 

5 Federal Government officials since passage 

6 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that have 

7 created barriers to the exercise of the right 

8 to vote. 

9 (B) During the month of September, the 

10 issuance of a special Fannie Lou Hamer stamp 

11 by the Postmaster General of the United States 

12 Postal Service to remind people in the United 

13 States that ordinary citizens risked their lives, 

14 marched, and participated in the great democ15 racy of the United States so that all citizens 

16 would have the fundamental right to vote. 

17 (C) The allocation of requisite funds by 

18 Congress for public service announcements— 

19 (i) to remind people in the United 

20 States when elections are being held and 

21 urge people to vote; and 

22 (ii) through various forms of media, 

23 including television, radio, newspapers, 

24 magazines, social media, billboards, and 

25 buses. 


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1 (D) The passage of legislation by Congress 

2 to allow any citizen to be automatically reg3 istered to vote in Federal elections when that 

4 citizen reaches the age of 18 years. 

Æ 


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