IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 968 
Calling on Congress to condemn voter suppression laws enacted by States 
and political subdivisions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2024 
Ms. NORTON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Calling on Congress to condemn voter suppression laws 
enacted by States and political subdivisions. 
Whereas the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 af-
firms that voting rights cannot be denied to citizens on 
the basis of race; 
Whereas post-Reconstruction Jim Crow laws severely re-
stricted voting rights, particularly those of African Amer-
icans; 
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 contributed to a sig-
nificant increase in voter registration and participation 
by African Americans and other minorities; 
Whereas the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby Coun-
ty v. Holder struck down section 4(b) of the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965, the coverage provision of the law 
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•HRES 968 IH 
that identified States and political subdivisions with a 
chronic history of passing restrictive voting laws; 
Whereas the Shelby County decision effectively nullified sec-
tion 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which allowed 
the Department of Justice and Federal courts to 
‘‘preclear’’ any proposed changes to voting rules, allowing 
a preemptive strike to unjust and discriminatory voting 
laws in the regions identified by section 4(b); 
Whereas the absence of this preclearance requirement has al-
lowed for voter suppression laws to proliferate by permit-
ting States and political subdivisions to pass restrictive 
voting laws without Federal preclearance to determine if 
the laws are racially discriminatory; 
Whereas since the Shelby County decision, 29 laws have been 
passed in 11 States that had been subject to 
preclearance; 
Whereas restricting early voting disproportionately affects 
people of color, low-income citizens, and the elderly, who 
often rely on flexible, early voting periods; 
Whereas many voting-eligible, low-income Latino voters are 
naturalized United States citizens who lack proof of citi-
zenship and cannot afford a Certificate of Citizenship or 
a Replacement Certificate of Naturalization, which cost 
$1,170 and $555, respectively; 
Whereas many of these laws target voting mechanisms dis-
proportionately used by non-White voters, including in 
the 2020 and 2022 elections, such as Georgia enacting 
new restrictions on mail voting after nearly 30 percent of 
Georgia’s Black voters cast ballots by mail in 2020; 
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•HRES 968 IH 
Whereas since the Shelby County decision, at least 22 States 
have passed at least 43 laws to restrict mail voting ac-
cess; 
Whereas reducing absentee voting disproportionately affects 
low-income, minority voters, who are more likely than 
other citizens to have inflexible work- and childcare-re-
lated schedules; 
Whereas 70.9 percent of White voters cast ballots in the 
2020 election, compared to 58.4 percent of voters of 
color; 
Whereas in addition to State-level voter suppression laws, po-
litical subdivisions have also passed new laws that sup-
press minority voters, including reducing the number of 
polling places and offering insufficient language assist-
ance for non-English-speaking voters; 
Whereas following the Shelby County decision, there were at 
least 868 fewer polling places in the 2016 election than 
in past elections; 
Whereas since the Shelby County decision, courts have struck 
down restrictive voting laws, demonstrating the discrimi-
natory nature of voting restrictions that have proliferated 
post-Shelby County; 
Whereas if a preclearance formula had been in effect, the De-
partment of Justice and Federal courts would have been 
able to prevent discriminatory voter suppression laws 
from being passed; 
Whereas 2,000,000 fewer individuals would have been purged 
from their States’ voter rolls between 2012 and 2016 if 
formerly covered jurisdictions had continued to remove 
voters at the same rate as noncovered jurisdictions, and 
1,100,000 fewer individuals would have been removed be-
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•HRES 968 IH 
tween 2016 and 2018 if formerly covered jurisdictions 
had continued to remove voters at the same rate as non-
covered jurisdictions; 
Whereas, on July 13, 2023, the Committee on House Admin-
istration favorably reported the American Confidence in 
Elections Act (H.R. 4563), which contains provisions 
that would apply only to the District of Columbia and 
make it harder for District of Columbia residents to vote 
and for the District of Columbia to administer elections; 
and 
Whereas many voter laws that were passed or went into ef-
fect after the Shelby County decision threaten to affect 
a significant number of minority voters in upcoming elec-
tions: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives con-
demns the use by States and political subdivisions of voter 
suppression laws and techniques. 
Æ 
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