{"id":4910,"date":"2022-01-18T21:04:19","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T21:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affordablehousingonline.com\/blog\/?p=4910"},"modified":"2022-01-20T19:30:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T19:30:34","slug":"what-voting-rights-mean-for-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affordablehousingonline.com\/blog\/what-voting-rights-mean-for-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"What voting rights mean for housing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Voters<\/a>
Voters line up in stalls to make their selections electronically.
Modified photo \u00a9 flickr.com\/photos\/mdgovpics<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Update:<\/strong> On Wednesday night<\/a>, the Senate voted to not move the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act forward to a final vote. A vote to change filibuster rules also failed, removing any chance of the voting rights bill passing into law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As the U.S. Senate debates passing the Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act, it is important to be reminded why voting rights mean so much to low-income renters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After President Biden won the last Presidential election, conservative areas like Houston, Miami, and Milwaukee changed voting rights and procedures to make it hard for different racial or language minority groups to vote in elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many areas, voter ID requirements were made difficult, time limits to mail in ballots were shortened, and laws allowing voters to be purged from registered voter lists were enacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom to Vote: John R Lewis Act would standardize election laws and voter access across the country, and ban political gerrymandering (in which state leaders redraw congressional district boundaries to their advantage). It would extend the duration of early voting to 15 days, allow for everyone to vote by mail, and use same-day online and automatic registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also important from this new legislation is reintroducing the requirement that states with a history of discrimination would have to get permission from the Department of Justice before changing election laws. Under this bill, if proposed changes to voting laws are not cleared by the federal government through the Department of Justice, the voting laws will not be changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other big impacts from this bill include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n