Obama is stacking the Federal Courts. Expect more States and localities that will require preclearance.

Via TPM

Key lawmakers unveiled a bipartisan bill on Thursday aimed at fixing a centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act that was axed by the Supreme Court last year.

The proposal aims to modernize the invalidated formula under Section 4 of the landmark law, which is used to determine which state and local governments (based on their history of racial discrimination) must get federal permission before changing their voting laws.

“I will admit it’s not a perfect deal. But it is a necessary and important beginning,” said Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil rights icon. “As I’ve said many times, the right to vote is precious. Almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy.”

The Supreme Court said using data from the 1960s was unconstitutional. So in response, the new bill establishes a rolling trigger — states are subject to “preclearance” if five or more changes to voting laws have been overturned by a federal court in the previous 15 years. Local governments would be subject to preclearance if they rack up three or more of these violations in 15 years.

In addition, the bill expands Section 3, a tool under the Voting Rights Act to “bail in” or add to the list of states and localities under preclearance if a federal court finds that they intentionally sought to make it harder for certain racial groups to vote. The proposed bill would expand the bail-in criteria to include laws that discriminate in effect, instead of necessitating proof of intent to discriminate.

Notably, voter ID laws that are struck down in federal court are exempt for the purposes of the Voting Rights Act fix and would not count as a violation in terms of the preclearance or bail-in provisions.

“We don’t like the carve-out for voter ID laws,” said Deborah Vagins, the senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C.

The bill was introduced in the Capitol by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), House Judiciary Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Lewis.

The lawmakers said that if the bill were law today, four states would be subject to preclearance: Georgia, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. More states could be added later if they rack up violations.

Despite the bipartisan co-sponsorship, the legislation faces major obstacles in Congress because many Republicans aren’t inclined to fix the Voting Rights Act. It’ll require 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate, and even if it does, House Republican leaders have demonstrated no interest in allowing a vote on such a bill. A GOP leadership aide didn’t respond to a request for comment on the bipartisan proposal.