WHEREAS:
The United States Constitution, initially ratified in 1788, gave each state broad authority to set voter qualifications for its residents; and
WHEREAS:
Southern states legalized disenfranchisement by enacting Jim Crow laws, through their actions of amending their constitutions and passing legislation to enforce racial segregation; and
WHEREAS:
They implemented literacy tests, poll taxes, property ownership requirements, moral character tests and requirements that voter registration applicants interpret documents to exclude Black Americans from voting; and
WHEREAS:
Three Reconstruction amendments, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, were passed by the Congress and ratified by the states after the Civil War limited their discretion; and
WHEREAS:
These amendments prohibit slavery except as punishment for a crime, grant citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, guarantee due process and equal protection and prohibit denying or abridging voting rights based on race, color or previous condition of servitude; and
WHEREAS:
These amendments empowered Congress to enforce their provisions through appropriate legislation, which included the Civil Rights Act of 1964, created to address rampant discrimination against racial minorities; and
WHEREAS:
This landmark federal statute, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, transformed policy by prohibiting discrimination; and
WHEREAS:
This landmark statute has been amended five times to expand its protections, including regulating elections to safeguard voting rights nationwide; and
WHEREAS:
The National Archives and Records Administration stated, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most significant statutory change in the relationship between the federal and state governments in voting since the Reconstruction period after the Civil War,” securing the right to vote for racial minorities particularly in the South; and
WHEREAS:
Section 2 bars state and local governments from using voting practices that deny or restrict voting rights based on race, color or membership in a language minority group; and
WHEREAS:
Section 5 protected voting rights by requiring certain jurisdictions to obtain preclearance from the U.S. Attorney General or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before changing voting procedures; and
WHEREAS:
These protections increased voter registration and turnout among Black American citizens; and
WHEREAS:
These statues resulted in greater public goods provisions for areas with higher Black populations, and greater Black representation in the United States Congress who voted for civil rights related legislation and greater Black representation in local offices; and
WHEREAS:
In 1978, the United States Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision on affirmative action and racial quotas, affecting protections connected to the Fourteenth Amendment; and
WHEREAS:
The election of President Barack Obama in 2008 and his reelection in 2012 drove a false narrative that voter discrimination no longer existed; and
WHEREAS:
In 2013, the United States Supreme Court under Justice John Roberts on a vote of 5-4 weakened the Voting Rights Act; and
WHEREAS:
This decision invalidated preclearance for states with histories of racial discrimination, declaring the requirement obsolete; and
WHEREAS:
This decision prompted Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass laws that made voting more difficult and disproportionately discouraged racial minorities from voting; and
WHEREAS:
These measures caused reductions in early voting, increased voter-roll purges and imposed strict voter ID laws, contributing to lower Black American voter turnout after the 2020 election; and
WHEREAS:
In 2026, the Supreme Court acted to increase the requirements for vote dilution claims, stating that such claims must be decoupled from permissible partisan gerrymandering, resulting in a further weakening of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; and
WHEREAS:
On June 30, 2026, the United States Supreme Court, by a narrow 5-4 vote, upheld the birthright citizenship protections clearly established in the Fourteenth Amendment.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That Congress enact legislation to preserve 160 years of birthright citizenship; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That Congress prohibit politically motivated congressional redistricting outside the required 10-year cycle; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That each state shall notify eligible voters of their correct polling place; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That voter-roll purges be prohibited unless affected voters receive notice, due process and an opportunity to challenge their removal; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That same-day voting and mail-in voting be protected; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That Congress address voting-rights setbacks by restoring preclearance review by a bipartisan congressional panel before certain election-law changes take effect; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That Congress restore the intent of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and create a new formula to determine which jurisdictions are subject to this requirement; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That before implementing new election laws, jurisdictions must prove to a congressional governing body that the proposed procedures will not negatively affect voting rights based on race or other minority status; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME International work with its congressional allies to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2025.
SUBMITTED BY:
Tina Turner-Morfitt, Vice President and Delegate
AFSCME Retiree Chapter 75
Oregon