Jun 26, 2013 - NHLA: SHELBY DECISION MAJOR BLOW TO VOTING RIGHTS

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
June 26, 2013

Supreme Court strikes down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, ignores evidence of ongoing discrimination, weakens voter protections

Washington, D.C. -- The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 36 of the nation’s preeminent Latino organizations, expressed its dismay at Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder which struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. NHLA member organizations MALDEF, LatinoJustice/PRLDEF and NALEO filed an amicus brief earlier this year detailing the persistent and severe discrimination against Latinos in the Southwest

“Tuesday's decision is a major setback to 50 years of voting rights progress. The tools provided by the Voting Rights Act--and struck down by this wrongheaded decision--have helped us draw closer to the ideals of American democracy. However, the evidence is clear that discrimination against voters of color persists, especially against Hispanic voters, such as in Texas, where the state's Attorney General has announced his intention to move forward with an unnecessary voter ID law that will make it more difficult for thousands of legitimate Latino voters in Texas to exercise their right to vote. We call on both parties in Congress to quickly restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act,”said Hector Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).

“Section 5 protections exist in the largest four states with Latino populations: California, Texas, New York and Florida. Make no mistake about it. This decision rolls back these protections at a time when the mid-term elections in 2014 will be another signal of the growing political clout Latino voters will exercise. We will now have to prepare to fight off multiple attempts to stop and derail the Latino vote,” said Juan Cartagena, President & General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF.

“This Supreme Court decision, so divorced from the real experience of voters, is but a temporary setback for our nation's democracy,” stated Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF. “The Congress has no choice but to act to ensure that this most potent of civil rights enforcement mechanisms is again deployed to protect the most important rights of Americans, including, most centrally, the right to vote in our democracy.”

“As the late Latino icon Willie Velasquez said, ‘Su voto es su voz,’ and now the Supreme Court has endangered that voice since one in three Latinos live in areas covered under the Voting Rights Act. We urge Congress to act quickly to address this decision and continue safeguarding the rights of all Americans to vote. As an organization that registered tens of thousands of eligible Latino voters in states across the country in the last election, we know that any progress we have made would erode without a strong, intact Voting Rights Act,” stated Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.

“While the nation has changed since the formula was initially developed in 1965, the need for protections against intentional threats to voting rights has not. Texas, a state where Latinos accounted for 65 percent of the state’s growth between 2000 and 2010, has repeatedly attempted to draw district lines that discriminated against Latino and underrepresented voters,” stated Arturo Vargas, executive director of National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. “This pattern and history, which is mirrored in many other states and localities across the country, demonstrates the continued importance of having a coverage formula in place that will allow Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to serve as a safeguard for fair elections. We call on Congress to act swiftly to enact a new coverage formula that will address discriminatory practices and threats to voting rights.”

“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided to rule the coverage formula, a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, as unconstitutional. In many states where the coverage formula applied, Latinas are a growing voting constituency and are subject to relentless voter suppression. In places such as Arizona, Latinas recently had to prove citizenship to register to vote. Tuesday’s ruling will hinder the growing Latina electorate from actively participating in the social and political processes of their communities,” said Jessica González-Rojas, Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

“In this land of freedom and opportunity the right to vote is sacred. Many lives were in peril and many were lost in the campaign to help ensure the right to vote for all citizens. While much improvement has been achieved in protecting this sacred right there continues to be significant evidence that the full intent of the VRA is still needed. It is unbelievable that our country monitors the proper conducting of elections in other countries and yet there are leaders who do not wish to ensure that its own citizens enjoy the same protections. Let us practice what we preach and correct this gap, ” stated Alma Morales Riojas, President and CEO of MANA, A National Latina Organization.

“The National Conference of PuertoRican Women strongly encourages the 113Th Congress to work together to ensure that very citizen continues to have the right to vote,” said Vilma Colom, National President, NACOPRW, Inc.

Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org and LatinosUnited.org and follow @NHLAgenda.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

| Melody Gonzales | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (202) 508-6917 |

| Brenda Arredondo | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | (915) 373-1483 |

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