Whereas the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 affirms that voting rights cannot be denied to citizens on the basis of race; Whereas post-Reconstruction Jim Crow laws severely restricted minority voting rights, particularly those of African Americans; Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 contributed to a significant increase in voter registration and participation by African Americans and other minorities; Whereas the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder struck down section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the coverage provision of the law that identified States and political subdivisions with a chronic history of passing restrictive voting laws; Whereas the Shelby County decision effectively immobilized section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which allowed the Department of Justice and Federal courts to preclear any proposed changes to voting rules, allowing a preemptive strike of unjust and discriminatory voting laws in the regions identified by section 4(b); Whereas the absence of this preclearance requirement has allowed for voter suppression laws to proliferate by permitting States and political subdivisions to pass restrictive voting laws without Federal preclearance to determine if the laws are racially discriminatory; Whereas following the Shelby County decision, at least 17 States had voting restrictions in place for the first time in a Presidential election in time for the 2016 contest; Whereas approximately 11 percent of American citizens lack government-issued photo identification, and a disproportionate number are low-income, elderly, or people of color; Whereas African Americans are as much as 305 percent and Latinos are as much as 195 percent more likely than Whites to lack acceptable identification required to vote; Whereas since the Shelby County decision, at least 4 States have reduced early voting access