June 22, 2015 NHLA TO CALL FOR ACTION ON VOTING RIGHTS ACT AT ROANOKE RALLY ON SHELBY ANNIVERSARY

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JUNE 22, 2015

NHLA TO CALL FOR ACTION ON VOTING RIGHTS ACT AT ROANOKE RALLY ON SHELBY ANNIVERSARY
Two Years After the Supreme Court Weakened Voting Protections, Congressional Inaction Despite Evidence of Ongoing Discrimination

Washington, D.C. - The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 39 of the nation's preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, will travel to Elmwood Park in Roanoke, Virginia, to join hundreds of civil rights groups and voting rights advocates in a rally to restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA), this Thursday, June 25th, beginning at noon. Also participating in the rally are NHLA member organizations, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

The date marks the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which removed longstanding key voter protections. Together with groups representing millions of Americans, NHLA will call on Congress to act to defend the right to vote and ensure that all Americans can participate in our democracy.
"The Court’s decision had far-reaching effects for Latino and other minority voters and opened the door for greater levels of discrimination against Latino voters. After two years, Congress has still not acted to protect typically-disenfranchised communities after the Supreme Court set back voting rights. Our community is appalled that we currently have the weakest voting protections in the 50 years since initial passage of the Voting Rights Act. The American people and our democracy should not have to wait any longer, especially since there is bipartisan Congressional support to fix the VRA," said Hector Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

The Court struck down as unconstitutional a portion of the law used to identify states and localities that must follow special procedures before implementing changes in their voting systems. Free from federal oversight since the Shelby County decision, lawmakers across the country have adopted discriminatory policies and voting restrictions that make it harder for Americans to exercise their Constitutional right to the ballot and dilute the voting strength of minority communities. Despite overwhelming evidence of modern-day voting discrimination running rampant in many parts of the country, and a bipartisan proposal to address this, Congress has failed to restore and strengthen the VRA.

While NHLA and others rally in Roanoke, VA, the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) will hold a press conference at the Martin Luther King Memorial, June 25 at 11 AM, in Washington calling on Congress to restore the VRA - the civil rights legislation for which Martin Luther King and countless others fought so hard.

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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. In 2014, NHLA created the Latinos United for Voting Rights to ensure a fair and bipartisan process in modernizing the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. For more information, please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org and follow @NHLAgenda.

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