John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
Current understanding
Legislative proposal (2025 version) to restore federal preclearance under the Voting Rights Act by adopting a new coverage formula responsive to Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which struck down the prior formula in Section 4(b). The bill would require jurisdictions with recent records of voting rights violations to obtain federal approval before changing voting laws or procedures, and updates practice-based preclearance triggers. Follows prior iterations (notably the 2021 version) that passed the House but stalled in the Senate; status is introduced.
Evidence log
- 2026-06-11 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right to vote.: cross-connection with constitutional-right-to-vote-amendment: Both address the federal floor for voting rights protections; the amendment would entrench a right at the constitutional level while the John Lewis VRAA restores statutory preclearance and enforcement. (novelty: 3)
- 2026-06-02 — Allen v. Milligan: cross-connection with allen-v-milligan: Both concern Voting Rights Act enforcement; the Milligan line of cases interprets Section 2 vote-dilution claims that the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act seeks to reinforce legislatively. (novelty: 3)
- 2026-06-24 — Right to Vote Act: cross-connection with right-to-vote-act: Both bills are part of a 119th Congress package of affirmative voting-rights legislation; the John Lewis Act focuses on restoring preclearance while the Right to Vote Act would establish a statutory right to vote. (novelty: 2)
- 2026-03-26 — Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act of 2025: cross-connection with voter-id-legislation: The SAVE America Act’s documentary-citizenship and photo-ID mandates would interact directly with the John Lewis Act’s proposed preclearance regime, which could subject such state-level implementation changes to federal review in covered jurisdictions. (novelty: 2)
- 2025-03-05 — John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025: cross-connection with voter-id-legislation: Preclearance restoration would subject certain state voter ID law changes to federal review before taking effect in covered jurisdictions. (novelty: 2)